The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) on Wednesday took its anti-graft crusade to Area ‘F’ Police Command in Lagos, urging police officers not to live above their income.
Mr. Debo Adeniran, Executive Chairman of The organization, who spoke to a large number of police officers of different ranks, including Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Olusoji Adebayo, the Area Commander, maintained that if the police officers failed to live within their income, the tendency would be for them to be corrupt.
He cited cases of policemen harassing drivers on the roads, extortion, mounting illegal road blocks or becoming privy to heinous crimes, stressing that anyone who had conscience should not be involved in acts of corruption, which might put them into trouble if caught.
The CACOL boss urged the police officers to adhere strictly to the rules created for them by the constitution as well as their service rules and their oath of office, even as he counseled them to respect the rights of citizens they were supposed to protect.
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Adeniran also advised the police officers to resist offering and receiving bribes, stressing that it was wrong for them to bribe their superiors to be promoted, saying promotion should be seen as their rights, if they merited it.
According to him, “Everybody wants a better society. Nobody wants to make sacrifices that will lead to better society. We should allow our conscience to detect our actions.”
Adeniran, who disclosed that CACOL would take its anti-corruption and capacity building workshop to all the Area Commands in Lagos, stressed that the group had changed its focus in the crusade against corruption by bringing it down to the grassroots.
According to him, “If the top police officers are not corrupt, the junior ones will be deter from committing corruption even if the senior officers make their promotions difficult for them.”
ACP Adebayo, in his speech, lamented that corruption had been fighting the Police Force directly and indirectly, stressing that the devaluation of the naira affected people’s purchasing power, hence a lot of people engage in corruption to make ends meet.
Adebayo, however, maintained that the high cost of living and the nation’s economic situation should not make people to be corrupt, even as he warned that fighting corruption might bring some repercussions.
He said: “Police officers should keep a distance from those they are handling their cases. There are consequences of action. But, if you maintain the truth, your truth will vindicate you. Plan for your retirement very early, but not by being corrupt.
“Try to be change agents in the Police Force. People should know you for one thing. We must do our work. Your uniform is the most powerful. If you do the right thing, it will bring you greatness. But, if you do the wrong thing, it will bring you down.”
