IGP stops parade of suspects

THE Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, has ordered police units across the federation to stop the act of parading suspects while investigations are still ongoing.

In a signal sent out to all the 36 states police commands and the FCT, the IGP warned that his administration respects the rule of law, hence he ordered that the act should be stopped immediately.

According to him, police can only prosecute suspects in the courts but cannot parade suspects, a practice he said undermines police investigations.

Informed sources in the force disclosed to Sunday Tribune that although the new directive did not go down well with many of the police officers, they however had no choice other than to comply.

The source noted that parading suspects had helped police a great deal in the past because it serves as a form of deterrant to intending criminals and send signals to such miscreants that they would be caught if they involve in crime.

The IGP also stated that it has been argued by lawyers that parading suspects was unlawful and unconstitutional.

The IGP further directed that the media could be only be informed through briefing on the achievements of the police, but not by parading suspects.

“When big time suspects are charged to court, the media could get their pictures in the court,” he added.

The IGP also argued that parading suspects had not helped the police as pressure is usually mounted on the police once suspects are paraded.

The new directive may have weakened many state commissioners of police who usually parade suspects to showcase their achievements in checkmating criminals in their areas of jurisdiction.

However, the commands’ commissioners of police have been adopting the new directive of not parading suspects, though some of them have been complaining that the directive is not helpful.

http://tribune.com.ng/sun/news/6667-igp-stops-parade-of-suspects

Very good one! It is very wrong to parade suspects before they are convicted in the law court.

Suspects should be presumed innocent till proven guilty and not presume guilty till proven innocent.

nice one from the police boss

if this can be followed by the implementation of 24hrs bail ultimatum, it will go a long way in repositioning our police force.