Fatherland, a group of Nigerian professionals in the United Kingdom, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police.
In a statement by Dele Ogun, its president, Fatherland called for a comprehensive, citizen-led reform of policing arrangements in the country to give the people proper protection from criminals “in or out of uniform”.
He said the youths have made it clear that they will not tolerate being treated less than citizens by their own government.
He condemned the attacks on protesters by police operatives “and their hired thugs intended to deprive citizens of their right to hold peaceful protests”.
Advertisement
“The IG should have resigned. There is a stream of innocent blood flowing across the land under his feet. The proper thing is for him to quit. If he fails, he should be sacked,” Ogun said.
“It is in this same spirit of defending their fundamental rights to human dignity that they have joined others across the world as part of the worldwide Black Lives Matters movement.”
Ogun said the events of the last week have shown that the relationship of trust and confidence that needs to exist between citizens, communities and security agencies has completely broken down.
Advertisement
“This is especially poignant and troubling, against the backdrop of President Buhari’s Independence Day address, in which he called for the citizenry to support the government by providing the necessary community-level intelligence,” he said.
The group also expressed concern about reports that the Buhari-led administration has, repeatedly, been making public announcements of the disbandment of SARS units without any meaningful action taken and “only to allow them to resurface each time”.
Listing some of the victims of SARS, the group said citizens should not become mere statistics but that the government must ensure the delivery of justice for them.
Advertisement
1 comments
Police IG Mohammed Adamu is not our problem and should not be made a scapegoat. I don’t stick out my neck for service chiefs but this one holds my respect even in the face of this challenges. The rot in the force runs deep. The president and national Assembly should be held responsible. Remove Adamu, the problem will remain. The president should wake up to his responsibility. We are tired of making feeble excuses for him. Reform the police. Reduce waste at national assembly, rejig the security leadership with those who are hungry to work, become more caring or relinquish office, sir. Our indolence has forced our “lazy youths” from their lazy sleep. You can only win them over by delivering good governance OR quit.