Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has urged law enforcement officers in the state to be firm in enforcing the law and demonstrate professionalism and civility in the way and manner they relate with citizens.
The governor gave the charge at the Year 2022 Passing Out Parade of the Lagos State law enforcement officers organized by the Lagos State Law Enforcement Training Institute (LETI).
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, added that his administration was irrevocably committed to upholding the tenets of the rule of law and would not condone any form of harassment, arbitrariness, extortion from any of its officers.
In the same vein, the governor urged Lagosians to continue to be law-abiding and support and protect men and officers of law enforcement agencies to serve the state better.
“I want to particularly emphasize that while you are expected to be firm in enforcing the law, you must demonstrate professionalism and civility in the way and manner you relate with the people,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu noted that the officers were expected to be guided by the knowledge and experience that they had gained from the training exercise which spanned a period of three months where they had been tutored on professionalism, ethics, values, integrity, honesty, respect and compassion, all of which, he said were critical to the effective and efficient discharge of their responsibilities.
He assured that his administration would continue to strengthen their capacity with the appropriate gadgets and equipment that would enhance their efficiency and effectiveness.
The Governor reiterated that the passing out parade demonstrated his administration’s commitment to upgrading the capacity of the officers who were daily confronted with diverse issues and challenges in the course of carrying out their lawful duties, especially in the areas of traffic management, maintaining discipline, ensuring safety and security in our neighbourhoods, and on our roads.
Earlier in his remarks, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo, who was represented by the Director, Advisory Services, Ministry of Justice, Mr Saheed Quadri, urged the officers to show allegiance to what was right and conform to a standard of conduct that shows their true worth display of bravery and honesty.
Onigbanjo said that the officers must do their parts to elevate Lagos to a new height of admirable pride, a secured place to live and conduct business, adding: “We must preserve the environment, uphold the law, always speak out for justice and sow the seeds of peace.”
Chief Executive Officer/Head of Law Enforcement Training Institute (LETI), Mrs Abiola Adeyinka, in her welcome address, noted that training was important and necessary as, according to her, it represented a good opportunity and privilege for staff to grow their knowledge base and improve their job skills to become more effective and efficient at the workplace.
She added that the passing out parade indicated the completion of the Year 2022 Mandatory in-service Training for the different Law Enforcement Officers in the state namely; Vehicles Inspection Services (VIS), Lagos Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Kick Against of Indiscipline (KAI) and Lagos State Neighborhood Security Agency (LNSA) and it spanned for 3 months for over 8,000 Officers divided into 20 batches.
She noted that the training was in line with Governor Sanwo-Olu’s avowed belief in training and retraining public servants to enhance their effective operations.
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