Lagos residents hail AIG Mbu’s dressing order for police

By EMEKA IBEMERE 

A cursory look around Lagos and Ogun states’ Police formations, since his arrival to the zone where he is an Assistant Inspector General of Police, supervising Zone 2, it’s visible that the police dress code has changed.

It has been observed that decency and pride of the Nigerian Police in terms of uniform and code of conduct concerning dressing mode of the Force is now in force. Policemen and women are sticking to discipline, decency, cleanliness and sanity among the rank and file of the Force.

Joseph Mbu, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2, recently ordered neatness in the dressing attire of every police officer. Today, the mantra among the officers is that – ‘the fear of Mbu is the beginning of cleanliness!’

Since he assumed duty in Lagos from Abuja, he had maintained on the need for officers to be disciplined, clean and to maintain law and order in their duty posts and everywhere.  

The seemingly rough dress sense of the Nigerian police, especially those in Lagos and Ogun states has disappeared. It didn’t just change like that without a measure of discipline introduced by Mbu.

The no-nonsense police officer within a month of his stay, in Lagos and Ogun states ordered the arrest and detention of about 50 policemen in the Lagos State Police Command for dressing shabbily to work.

He told officers of the Ogun State Command at Eleweran, the Police headquarters in Abeokuta, on the need to dress professionally to duty.

According to Mbu, about 70 per cent of officers lack discipline and added that the offence of the erring police officers ranged from wearing dirty uniforms, bathroom slippers, carrying rifles while wearing mufti, amongst others.

He said such conducts are against the code of conduct of the police. Mr. Mbu, however, expressed the hope that the detained police officers would change for good within a month.

“What I have noticed is that there is much indiscipline among policemen. They dress anyhow. Come to Lagos, they are more than 50 in my cell,” he stated.

“They dress the way they like, they wear bathroom slippers, they wear mufti and carry rifles. This is not part of police work. They are in the cell already, they are being punished and I know my men, within the next one month, they will change,” Mr. Mbu said. True to Mbu’s words, things have changed, especially their mode of dressing.

Shortly after assuming office, Mbu stated that he had come to Lagos to do pure police job and nothing more than that, but added: “If people are saying that the fear of Mbu is the beginning of wisdom, I like that -- and that is why people should live an orderly life.”

 “The two Commissioners of Police under my command should make sure, that they do their jobs very well. My men and officers should make sure that they are disciplined and must not be lawless. We all must be organised. If you are a civilian, you must obey the law. If as a civilian you don’t obey the law, whatever your status, we will bring you down and we will take you to court. But, if you obey the law, we will not have problems with you,” he said.

“People say I have come to play a script but you have seen me today. Don’t forget that it is the same Mbu who was the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command. This same Mbu, a State House of Assembly held a special session in honour of him and the Nigeria Police -- for a job well done. Lagosians should watch and see.”

He said he wasn’t popular in Rivers State; but that Nigerians and the media made him popular in Rivers State. He admitted that he was popular in Oyo State and in Abuja when he was CP of FCT and during his time as Zone 7 boss.

“In Rivers State, you people were hearing one side of the story because the other party was richer. You were not hearing my own part of the story. You have not bothered to go to Oyo State to go and ask why I was successful in the state, why I was named the best CP by the House of Assembly,” he said.

Mr. Mbu has been in the news for controversial reasons, the latest being his remarks before the general election that he would order his officers to kill 20 people in response, if any police personnel was killed during the 2015 elections.

In August 2012, it would be recalled that Mbu as the Commissioner of Police in charge of Police Mobile Force, ordered the arrest of mobile policemen along various highways for improper dressing and other unethical practices.

Three of the errant officers were arrested in Enugu State (MOPOL 3); one in Umuahia, Abia State (MOPOL 28); one in Lokoja metropolis, Kogi State (MOPOL 37), while the other one was nabbed along Abuja – Lokoja Road (MOPOL 50).

The police monitoring unit, in an attempt to arrest three other riot police officers in Umuahia, were allegedly fired at by the policemen who later escaped but they were later apprehended while drinking in Ugbehe, in Abia State. 

Mbu was said to have carried out the action aimed at completely sanitising the PMF and mopping up the shame it has brought upon Nigerians. He said those arrested were accused of improper dressing.

 “We want to do away with old men in the PMF. We are working towards demobbing old men who are up to 50, 60-years-old in the PMF. With this exercise, we will stop our men from embarking on illegal escort duties, and we will no longer tolerate those of them who dress shabbily, like wearing bathroom slippers while on duty, he stated.

“For instance, a mobile police officer was arrested along Abuja- Lokoja Road, wearing only his MOPOL trousers. He was even sleeping with his beret, while his rifle was on the floor. The PMF has a clear mode of dressing and its members have a way of conducting themselves. They are supposed to be agile to save situations at all times.

“As the Compol, I decided that the ethics be instilled. The Inspector-General of Police supported the initiative and we set up an ethics, doctrine and monitoring team, and the call order was to arrest any of them found wanting in the dress code of the PMF. Even if they are escorting anybody and there is no authority, we demand that they be arrested. That is what we are doing now, going from state to state, and arresting the erring ones,” he added.

Most would agree that uniforms should be functional and practical while still commanding authority. The views on what type of uniform accomplishes these tasks differ.

A businessman, Ukwu Okechukwu, said policemen should be proud to wear their uniform and wondered why they should wait to be arrested before they start to dress well. According to Ukwu, wearing uniform create respect in people for the police officers. He said they also instil fear into criminals. The police uniform conveys an impression of authority.

“What bothers me is when police officers are dressed in something that is virtually indistinguishable from what the army wears,” he added that police officers who dress in mufti look much like the dressing of the rest of the population, and it undermines police officers' authority.

"It is as important to convey a sense of practicality and a sense of pride in the uniform," he says.

According to Femi Ogundeji, a member of the police community relations organisation, nobody would want the police officer to look like a banker but the blue black and blue uniform is something that is immediately identifiable with.

Nigerian police often run away from adorning their uniform because of attack from armed robbers and other criminals. Most of them disguise themselves to enter some areas while some put on their uniform before covering it with plain clothes.

Investigation carried out by our correspondent showed that majority of offenders were the new generation police officers who like to dress in casual attires and because of that many police officers incorporated the style into their uniform as a way of simply keeping up with the times.