The retiring Edo Commissioner of Police, Phillip Ogbadu, has claimed no officer of the Nigeria Police Force is bad, despite decades of accusations of police brutality.

“There are no bad policemen,” Mr Ogbadu said on Sunday at a special thanksgiving service to prelude his retirement in Benin, the Edo State capital.

In October 2020, thousands of youths stormed major cities in Nigeria to protest cases of brutality and rights abuses by officers of the police force.

A report by the Lagos State judicial panel of inquiry set up to investigate the cases of police brutality and provide restitution to the victims had also indicted the police for shooting unarmed protesters at the Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020. 

However, the police boss said the officers seen as the bad eggs in the police force are better than those seen as good when a situation calls for drastic action.

Mr Ogbadu expected to retire from the Nigeria Police Force, on Monday after 33 years of service, however, tasked officers to continue to be dedicated in their service to the state and country at large.

He noted that on assumption of office as the CP Edo command, in January 2021, the crime rates, especially kidnapping and cultism, were very high.

The CP decried manpower shortage in the force due to risks of various kinds in the course of service.

(NAN)