Commissioner representing the southeast geopolitical zone and the Organized Private Sector (OPS) in the Police Service Commission (PSC), Chief Onyemuche Nnamani, says he is working to ensure that the seeming marginalization of the Igbo in the high echelon of the force is redressed in the interest of equity and justice.
He also flayed the spate of extortion of commuters on southeast roads, disclosing that the Commission would deal decisively with any policemen caught in the illegal and unprofessional act.
Nnamani who was recently sworn-in by President Muhammadu Buhari to replace late Dr. Jombo Offo in the Commission spoke on the heels of growing agitation for proper placement of Nigerians of Igbo origin into the mainstream of the Nigeria Police Force.
Even as Nnamani noted that the fault was not of the Commission, he stated that conscious and deliberate efforts must be made to carry the Igbo along to rise and occupy high positions of relevance in the police.
He also said he would push for more sons and daughters of Southeast to head State police Commands as Commissioners in line with the policy of the Commission which stipulates that every State in the federation must produce a State Command Commissioner of Police.
The former Secretary to the Government of Enugu State disclosed that he was already consulting with relevant stakeholders both in the police sector and in the Southeast to find a common ground that would ensure that all geopolitical zones in the country were evenly represented at the decision-making levels of the police.
He disclosed that he would soon commence an advocacy visit to the five states of the zone to ensure that their young men and women would show more interest in joining the police and also sustain this interest so as to rise to the highest office in the Force.
He advised that Nigerians of Igbo extraction and those living in the southeast should stop encouraging the extortionist policemen by refusing to pay at checkpoints.
