While briefing men and officers of the command, Mr. Mbu made it clear it's not mandatory that a police officer must salute a governor on the day of election.
Excerpt:
I have come here to restore hope in all of you and to blow air into you. You know when you just have a male child, you blow air into his mouth and nose so that he can be like you.
I love Nigeria Police. I love being a police officer and I’m very proud to be a police officer because only a police officer can do every other job and no other person can do a police job.
In all the laws of Nigeria, there is nowhere they do not mention a police officer. So, the whole laws empower you. But you don’t know what you are. Do you want to be like pigs who do not know the value of gold? It seems to me that about 60 per cent of us or 70 are trying to behave like pigs who don’t know the value of what they have.
If you love this job, the number one commandment for this job is discipline. You must be disciplined. That’s why I said don’t touch my policeman. If you shoot my policeman, I will shoot 20 of you, I will shoot a hundred of you because we are coming to you for peace. We are not coming to you to come and kill you.
You are not engaging us in gun battle. You are not armed robbers that are engaging us in gun battle. You are having communal crisis, you are politicians, we are coming to settle you and you want to kill us. I say resist. I tell you again, resist. Anybody who fires you, fire him back in self-defence. Anybody who fires you, fire him back in self-defence but don’t fire first. Anybody you see who is firing at other persons, fire him because you are trying to protect that other person because the law permits you. You are empowered to stop that person from causing harm to the other person.
It is clearly stated in the constitution that there shall be a Nigerian Police Force for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There is no other police force. The military can come to us in aid of civil authority. We are the civil authority because we are supposed to deal with harmless civilians. So, we are the civil authorities.
Our arms storage is limited because we are dealing with harmless civilians. But we have to use arms when the civilians are armed against us. In aid of civil authorities, we are the one in charge of apprehending offenders before, during or after elections. Every other person that is coming is only coming to help us. We are the authorities, we are the leading agency. So, you are a leading agency and you must take charge of wherever you are posted to.
Our duty is to make sure that the elections are conducted freely, fairly and peacefully and violence-free. There must be a code of conduct that you have to uphold to make sure that we actualize our goals. Don’t bring God into this matter because you have to work hard before you now ask God to help you. How do you work hard? You make sure that you prepare.
This is a turning point in the history of the Nigeria Police where two very powerful political parties are contesting keenly. So, we have to be very serious. We have to be very bold. We have to be very brave. You must remain at your duty post. You must make sure you keep an eagle eye on everybody coming there. You must make sure that whatever is in the Electoral Act, whatever is against the Electoral Act, you are there to stop it. You are not there to start greeting honourable or oga ‘how are you?’ No. That is your day. Everybody there is coming to line up. No governor, no president, no AIG, no IG. Everybody is lining up to vote and go his way.
When they come there, if you like you can salute the governor. If you like you don’t salute him. He’s coming there to come and vote. He votes and he goes away. Anybody who comes there with an entourage of vehicles, you arrest them immediately. Even if the governor comes there with an entourage and with policemen by his side to come and intimidate people there you call your senior because you don’t have the power over them. You call your senior to come and disperse them. The governor will come quietly, may be with his ADC, to vote and walk away quietly.
Anybody who comes there with people jumping down, don’t be intimidated. Stop them, even if he’s the governor. You have the power to say stop there and he stops there. ‘Your excellency, I don’t like your conduct.’ You call your senior officers around.
I say I have come here to blow air of courage and confidence into your body. Let me tell you, if we find you wanting in these coming elections, they will set up a commission of inquiry to investigate what happened and if you are guilty, you’ll go in for it.
We are in a very critical period. A period that this all our ranks are now shaky, either you are promoted or you retain it or you are demoted or you are dismissed. So, it’s left for you to choose which one is better for you. For me, I want to maintain my rank and I want my rank to be increased. I want to go up and be at the top. I don’t know about you. So, you have to work hard. The most senior person at the polling booth, you are not under the civil defence. You are not under any para-military, you are in charge. I repeat, you are in charge. They are only coming to help you, to assist you. So on that day you must keep your face straight. Watch everybody. Make sure there is no problem.
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