A former Commissioner of Police in Nasarawa State, Chief Abayomi Akeremale has attributed the menace of criminals in the Nigerian Police Force to lack of understanding among Nigerians about what the force is all about.
Akeremale who spoke at his installation as Majekobaje of Methodist Church in Okitipupa, Ondo State, explained that there are two categories of policemen: those who joined the police to serve the nation, and those who join to service their pockets.
He ascribed proliferation of miscreants and Indian hemp smokers in the police force to refusal of parents and guardians to allow their wards, who graduated with good university grades, to join the police adding that the trend as a bad omen for the future of the force and the country at large.
In his sermon, Archbishop of Igbobini Diocese, Most Rev. Amos Akindeko described the Nigeria Police Force is an institution riddled with challenges, yet Akeremale is able to carve a niche for himself and came out of it “unscathed”.
The cleric hinted that part of the reasons the former commissioner was considered worthy of the Majekobaje title was his virtuous qualities as a honest, trustworthy and dedicated policeman.
In his own remark, a classmate of the former commissioner, Pastor Tunde Ipinmisho, described Akeremale as a friend and a brother; a man of integrity, as well as a committed and passionate policeman who loved his job.
Emmanuel Thomas