The Assistant
Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Lagos, Mr. Joseph Mbu, has
said that there is no big deal in the number of people policemen under his
command can kill in self-defence.
He said since policemen
were also human beings, they should be ready to take revenge on any violent
group(s) that might attack them or other innocent citizens.
Mbu spoke with some
journalists in Olorunsogo, Ogun State, during the inauguration of the Olorunsogo
II Power Station by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The journalists had
approached the AIG, who led policemen to provide security for the President at
the event, to clarify the controversial statement credited to him that 20
civilians would be hacked down for every policeman killed.
“If one of my men is
killed, I shall kill 20 of them, but don’t shoot first. If they shoot you,
shoot back in self-defence. Anybody who fires you, fire him back in
self-defence,” Mbu had been quoted in the media to have told his men at the
Ogun State Police Command Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, during a recent
visit.
Mbu on Friday said the
media account was mischievous and contrary to what he said in Abeokuta.
He also said that he
contemplated arresting the journalists who wrote the reports to show proof that
he indeed said what was reported.
Curiously, however, Mbu
restated the media account he had tried to debunk.
He said, “I still stand
by what I said. And what I said is very clear: that if any violent group
attacks my policemen, my policemen should attack them violently.
“If any violent group
attacks a law-abiding citizen in a bid to cause injury or cause harm, the
police should repel and save that law-abiding citizen because we have the
powers to do so.
“If hoodlums or touts
decide to be lawless; carrying knives, carrying illegal firearms and shooting
at my policemen, if they shoot at my policemen and they are a hundred or 200,
my policemen will not be looking at them. They will reply back in self-defence.
“The number I kill is
immaterial because a policeman is also a human being.”
When asked if his
strategy of fire-for-fire is the best way to handle the situation, Mbu
answered, “Which other way do you think you can handle it? You will shoot at
the police. Is it not when the person is alive that he is coming to give
evidence? How will somebody who is violently attacking others be stopped; how
are you going to stop him? Are you going to use your hands? You must repel him
using a stronger force.”
- Punch
Mbu should be relief his office you don't use violent to quench violent. How can you advise your men to kill. Is in the bible thou shall not kill. That was the same trouble been cause by you in river state when you were cp .
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