ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
The outgoing Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command, Mr Mike Okoli, has urged officers and men of the command to protect members of the public and not to intimidate and brutalise them.
He gave the advice during a send off party organised for him by the command at the Police Officers Mess in Yenagoa.
Okoli officially retired from the Nigeria Police Force on Sunday having attained the age of 60, after spending 33 years in the Force.
The retired CP assumed office at the state command on July 25, 2020.
He stated: I have told my officers and rank and file that they must do this job with the fear of God. They must not intimidate the people and they must not brutalise the people because today I am retiring, I am going back to the same society.
“So, if you were wicked, if you had traumatised the society, if you had intimidated them, they will not be your friends when you retire. Today, I am retiring happily, I have made good friends, so I will happily go back to society and fit in.”
Okoli advised the incoming CP to key into the handover notes he left for him, stressing that he had left a good crime fighting template for him to embrace.
He advised: “The incoming CP must be friendly with the people, he must operate and open door policy, he must not dismiss the people. Any information coming to him, he must analyse such information and must balance his judgment to make sure that the good people of Bayelsa rest and have peace.
“For the people of the state, they must be law abiding, they must not take laws into their hands. If they have issues, if crime is being committed, they must report to the police, they must desist from taking the laws into their hands and they must allow peace to reign in the state so that investors can come and invest in the state for employment opportunities to be available for them.”
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman, Eminent Persons Forum, Mr Robert Enua, commended the retired CP for his stewardship in the state.
He said during the #EndSARS protest and the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Okoli never allowed them to come close to Bayelsa because of his professionalism in policing.
Also speaking, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Don Awunah, who was also a former CP, commended the outgoing CP for his uprightness in tackling crimes and criminality.
He described Okoli as a seasoned police officer who knows his duty beyond all odds and has taken the force to the next level in Bayelsa.