Policemen Bearing Firearms to Undergo Psychological Evaluation – IGP

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase has ordered that all police officers bearing firearms in the performance of official duties be subjected to psychological test and evaluation, to ensure that they are mentally and emotionally fit to perform their duties. He made this known following some recent extra-judicial killings by some policemen in some parts of the country. He said that the exercise is aimed at “eliminating cases of irregularities in handling of weapons by policemen,” while stating that protecting the public whom the police has the constitutional duty to serve, and desisting from killing innocent and law-abiding citizens is key. The statement released by the Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, ACP Olabisi Kolawole says that the order was done to help restore job fitness. The statement reads in part; “The IGP disclosed that the central purpose of this exercise is to offer mental health recommendations that can help restore an officer to job fitness and deploy such policeman to appropriate section he/she is fit to work. IGP Arase has, therefore, directed all Police medical doctors across the nation to conduct psychological test on all Policemen bearing firearms in their respective Commands, every three months, noting that if any Police officer has a psychological condition or impairment unattended, will impact negatively on the overall performance of the Nigeria Police Force.”