By Okhide Em’ya David
Edo Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) Chairperson, Mrs. Helen Atekha Odemwingie has been suspended indefinitely with immediate effect on the order of the Police Force Headquarters.
A Statement by the Acting Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters Abuja, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Olumuyiwa Adejobi says the Force strongly condemns the illegal use of police uniforms, kits and accoutrements by non-police individuals and groups.
The suspension is coming on the heels of a trending picture of the PCRC chairperson and other members at a function held at the Edo State Police Command wherein the PCRC members were seen wearing uniforms like that of the Nigeria Police Force, with accompanying insignias and various inscriptions.
The act contravenes the provisions of ection 214{1} of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and section 101 of the Police Act, 2020.
In line with the extant law, the Inspector General of Nigeria Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, also sternly warned that henceforth, any individual who illegally adorns him or herself in police uniforms, would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
Similarly, the IGP has ordered the police disciplinary units particularly the Force Provost Marshal, the IGP X-Squad and Monitoring Unit to clampdown on persons who engage in the illegal sales of police uniforms, kits and accoutrements, outside of police approved stores and the office of the Quartermaster.
In the same vein, the Inspector-General of Police further directed the Force Public Relations Officer to meet and collaborate with members of the Guild of Actors in Nigeria to improve partnership to ensure proper use of police uniforms, kits and accoutrements in their movies/skits.
