TheCable

The Police Service Commission (PSC) says officers should be deployed to tackle insecurity instead of loitering around very important persons (VIPs).

The PSC said this in reaction to the arrest of Zainab Duke-Abiola, a professor and human rights activist, over an alleged assault on Teju Moses, a police inspector.

The police said Duke-Abiola assaulted the inspector over her refusal to carry out domestic chores.

Reacting to the incident, the PSC, in a statement by Ikechukwu Ani, its spokesperson, condemned the abuse of police orderlies by Nigerians.

“The commission condemns this act which it considers barbaric and inhuman. It sees the assault as a direct threat to national security and a calculated attempt to ridicule the Nigeria Police Force and what it stands for,” the statement reads.

“While the commission calls for immediate investigation and prosecution of all characters involved in the show of shame, it notes that the operations of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) should be reviewed to ensure that only a few Nigerians who genuinely deserve such protection are availed of this service.

“The commission frowns at the abuse of police orderlies by Nigerians who now use them as status symbols or convert them to house helps who clean, cook or do menial jobs.

“It noted that with the security problems ravaging the nation, there is an urgent need to free many police officers loitering in private houses and following ‘big men’ around.

“The commission calls on the Police hierarchy to quickly stop this practice and concentrate its efforts in policing and protecting a greater number of vulnerable Nigerians.”