By Esther Onyegbula

The Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, was yesterday  urged to immediately reorganize the Nigeria Police Force, and do everything with his power to halt extra-judicial killing of suspects in police custody.

The call was made by the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria, NOPRIN, and other stakeholders at the public presentation of: “Through The Lens of The Media, Vol. 2,” and the revised Lagos State Coroner’s Law (2007).

The event was supported by Justice for All Programme of the British Department for International Development.

The National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said aside reorganizing the police generally, Arase should pay special attention to the Special Anti-Robbery Squads across the nation.

Nwanguma added: “The IGP should investigate all allegations of crime and abuse by the officers in charge and other personnel of SARS. He should ensure that SARS operatives are held accountable for unlawful detention, torture, extortion, extrajudicial killings and disappearances of persons in their custody.”

According to him, the act of impunity continues to characterize the affairs of the police, when officials that shoot innocent civilians are only posted around until the cases were forgotten.

He noted that police oversight agencies had also proved incapable of reining in some of these practices.