All Policemen Bearing Firearms To Undergo Psychological Evaluation – IG Arase

POLICEThe Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase, has ordered psychological evaluation of policemen bearing firearms.

The psychological evaluation of these category of policemen is to ensure safety of members of the public, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, said on Thursday.

The move came on the heels of the boxing day tragedy in Ketu-Ikosi where a drunken policeman guarding a hotel in the area shot and killed twin brothers for allegedly cautioning him to stop harassing customers, who reportedly declined to buy him bottles of beer, before turning the gun on himself and shooting himself dead.

The police image maker, in a statement yesterday noted that: “In a show of concern for the recent extrajudicial killings by some Policemen in some parts of the country, the IGP 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”.

Kolawole, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) quoted the IGP as saying that the exercise is aimed at eliminating cases of irregularities in handling of weapons by Policemen, as well as protecting the public whom the Police has the constitutional duty to serve, and not to continue killing innocent and law-abiding citizens.

Mr. Arase, the statement added, 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”, the statement read.