CP Lanre Sikiru Bankole, Ogun State
Commissioner of Police
The #ENDSARS protests of 2020 which Nigerian youth employed to decry police criminalization and high handedness especially by the now defunct Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) has helped the police to understand the Nigerian people more, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Sikiru Bankole has said..
In a chat with the press at an event tagged “An Evening With The CP” held at the Senior Police Officers’ Mess, Okelewo in Abeokuta, CP Bankole noted that though the #EndSARS was a sad watershed in the annals of policing in Nigeria, it was an eye opener to the nature of the Nigerian people.
In his words, the senior police commissioner noted that “#EndSARS saga was a sad commentary in policing in Nigeria. Personally, I know that lessons were taught and learnt and in all of these, it has made us to understand ourselves better, both the police and the people we serve.”
He pointed out that it took the immediate intervention of some members of the public to stop the youth from destroying some stations or committing some other dastardly acts.
According to CP Bankole, many lessons became obvious from this singular gesture as it goes to prove that the Nigerian Police was not wholly bad to its people.
He pointed out that it also proved that the police and the people need each other and must mutually maintain good relations.
The police commissioner described the Nigerian Police Force as an organisation that is so well structured to handle exigencies, control and deal with its personnel.
He maintained that though it takes an angel to be a perfect policeman but the force has all the firepower to deal with erring officers.
On Police properties and structures destroyed in Ogun State during the #EndSARS protests, the state number one policeman disclosed that everything has been repaired and restored, noting that all stations are back on their feet.
“An Evening With The CP” was CP Bankole’s first official meet with the press since his assumption of office as the Ogun State Commissioner of Police last year and it afforded journalists the opportunity to interact with the senior policeman who insisted that “we are in an era where policing can best be undertaken with the active support of the press.
He posited that it is auspicious to have a real press especially now that anybody can sit down in his closet and reel out incorrect and inappropriate information, noting that it is only credible press that could ensure safety of facts and appropriate information.
CP Bankole noted that the legacy he would like to leave behind when he leaves office is a safe environment in all facets of life. “This is what I want posterity to remember me by”, he added.
