The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has assured Nigerians that police officers will maintain professionalism before, during and after the 2027 general elections.
Disu gave the assurance on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while responding to questions from journalists after the launch of The Origin of Women in Nigeria Police Force, a book written by 96-year-old Dame Stella Okuyiga, a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and one of the force’s 20 pioneer female officers.
The police chief said the Nigeria Police Force had begun preparations for the elections, including a conference involving commissioners of police and other senior officers across the country.
According to him, the meeting provided an opportunity to review lessons from recent elections, identify areas requiring improvement and develop strategies to ensure better performance during the 2027 polls.
“We have had two or three elections recently, and you can see that the police came very well and we did so well. We now brought all these experiences together, where we did well and where we did not do well, so that we can perform better in this big election that everybody is looking up to,” Disu said.
He added that the police would work to ensure their conduct earns the confidence of Nigerians throughout the electoral process.
“I give you my word. Nigeria Police will do so well, and we will make Nigeria Police so proud, and we will make Nigerians proud,” he said.
IGP hails retired female police officer
Disu also commended Okuyiga for documenting her experiences and institutional knowledge in the book, describing the publication as a resource for future generations of female police officers.
He noted that Okuyiga joined the Nigeria Police Force in 1955 as part of its pioneering group of female officers.
The IGP said the force intended to make copies of the book available to police training institutions to help officers understand the history and development of women’s participation in policing.
“Mama is 96 years old and she has taken her time to put all her experience, institutional knowledge that she has down in the book for us to be able to study it for generation coming for women police in the next generation coming to have something to look up to,” he said.
Disu added that the police leadership was committed to preserving the contributions of officers who had helped shape the institution.
Okuyiga says book will preserve her legacy
Speaking at the launch, Okuyiga expressed happiness that the publication would preserve her experiences and allow her legacy to endure beyond her lifetime.
She said the book would be available in libraries around the world, giving future readers an opportunity to learn about her life and contributions to the police force.
“This book launch today is an important day in my life because the book itself is there. But I still live on my life. I still live on because this book will be in libraries all over the world and they’ll be reading it,” she said.
