By Evelyn Usman
LAGOS — PRESIDENTIAL committee on Police re-organisation, yesterday, in Lagos, decried the deplorable state of police barracks, promising to do all within its reach to ensure policemen in the country operate under conducive atmosphere.

The Committee charged with the mandate of identifying the challenges and factors militating against effective performance in the Police and making recommendations to address the challenges, visited police formations in Lagos, where they observed with dismay, lack of adequate equipment to enhance performance.

Head of the nine-man delegation, Mr Casimir Akagbosu, explained that the visit to Police formations became necessary, as the committee was saddled, among other responsibilities, to examine the scope and standard of training and other personnel development activities in the Police to determine their adequacy or otherwise.

Lamenting that the congestion in the barracks and broken down facilities would to a large extent affect the psyche of policemen in particular and the Force in general, Akagbosu called for an urgent equipment of the force with state-of the-art technology to assist them in discharging their constitutional responsibilities.

Pledging the committee’s support to push for a better welfare package for policemen, Akabosu said the committee which has three months to complete its mandate, would also examine records of performance of officers and men of the Police Force, with a view to identifying those who would no longer fit into the system due to declining productivity, age, indiscipline, corruption and disloyalty.

To achieve the mandate of getting abreast with challenges faced by policemen, especially those of the ranks and files, the committee held a meeting with them at the Lagos state Police command, where senior officers and journalists were barred.

This, Vanguard gathered, was to ensure they talk freely without fear or intimidation from their superiors.

Akabosu called for written memoranda from interested members of the public, informing that the committee’s terms of reference was to ascertain the general and specific causes of the collapse of public confidence in the police and recommend ways of restoring public trust in the institution.

At the end, the committee, according to him, would come up with a blue print for the effectiveness of the Police, adding that it would also consider previous reports submitted by other committee.