The Nigerian police have dismissed 35 officers for corrupt practices, after they were summarily tried, the local press reported Saturday.
The report quoted the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mike Okiro, as saying the officers were shown the way out of the force in line with his “War on Corruption and Crime.”
Okiro said they were nabbed by the ‘X-Squad’ which he had set up on assumption of office to check widespread corruption in the 371,000-strong police force.
“You will recall that on assumption of office in June, 2007, 1 rolled out my 9-way test, one of which is ‘war on corruption/crime’. In pursuit of this cardinal objective, I appointed Public Relations, Conflict Resolution Officers as well as Human Rights Officers in all Zones, States and Police Divisions.
“Direct financial allocation is now made to the Zones, States and Divisions to prevent corrupt practices. I also set up the X-Squad, which has the responsibility to clamp down on corrupt officers within the Force. The Zones and State Commands were also mandated to set up similar mechanism in their various commands.
“I am pleased to inform you that the operation of the X-Squad has continued to yield positive results,” the police boss was quoted as saying while parading the disgraced officers at the police headquarters in the capital city of Abuja Friday.
Members of the Nigeria police are notorious for collecting bribes from motorists at the check points that dot the country’s roads.
In several instances, policemen at check points have shot dead motorists for refusing to part with money.
