The Police Service Commission has raised concerns over the competency of Commissioners of Police in Delta and Imo states following a series of assaults against police officers across Nigeria.
In a statement released on Sunday by the commission’s chairman, Solomon Arase, the commission condemned the attacks and emphasized that the slain officers were fellow Nigerians deserving of support, encouragement, and protection from citizens.
The Nigeria Police Force reported that six officers were killed in an ambush in Delta State by armed assailants while investigating the disappearance and rescue of three colleagues in the Ohoro Forest. Additionally, six officers went missing-in-action during the incident.
In another attack in Imo State, two police operatives attached to MOPOL 18, Owerri, were killed by gunmen in the Okigwe area. The assailants, suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and its affiliate, the Eastern Security Network, engaged the police in a gunfight and threw dynamite at their patrol vehicle along the old Gariki Road.
Arase expressed deep concern over the escalating violence, urging the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, to reassess the capacity of state Command leaderships nationwide. He stressed the need for consequences for incompetence, dereliction of duty, and operational weaknesses to prevent further police casualties.
Offering condolences to the families of the slain officers, Arase called for integrated intelligence policing and urged state command commissioners to rise to the occasion. He encouraged serving officers not to be demotivated by the attacks but to maintain the indomitable fighting spirit for which the Force is renowned.