AIG Kayode Egbetokun States Why Police Must Continue Stop-And-Search

The Nigeria Police will continue to deploy the “stop-and-search” technique, according to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) for Zone 7, Kayode Egbetokun.

Kayode Egbetokun’s assessment is that the approach has successfully reduced crime and insecurity on a nationwide scale.

Egbetokun also described instances where police officers and other members of the force performing “stop-and-search” duties apprehended kidnappers and freed their hostages. He made these statements on Wednesday at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command.

The police chief insisted that there were numerous advantages to conducting “stop-and-searches” notwithstanding the criticism of the practice.

On the forthcoming general election, the AIG urged members of the police to key into the tactics of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba to reduce crime to the barest minimum.

Egbetokun’s statement read: “As stated in the pertinent sections of the Electoral Act 2020, in addition to being the main agency in internal security, the Nigeria Police Force is also the lead agency in election security management.

“The calendar and schedule of activities of the electoral process in Nigeria can be divided into pre-election, during election and post-election periods. The Nigeria Police Force has the mandate to provide security throughout the entire electoral process. It is on this note that IGP Usman Alkali Baba organised workshops in all the six geopolitical zones on election security management.

“As a disciplined force, we all must key into the policing trust of the IGP Baba in order to guarantee a hitch-free general election. We must ensure that crime and criminality is reduced to the barest minimum.”