Police Brutality: Recruitment process must be discussed – Sowore

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has said the process of recruiting policemen goes a long way in shaping how police officers behave.

He said the process must be well discussed if the country must tackle police brutality.

“Police reform is personal to me. I have been a victim of police brutality since my days at the university. To reform the police, the issue of police recruitment must be attacked. There is no regulation to how police are being recruited and the results are questionable characters and unqualified men in uniform,” Sowore said on Saturday in an interview with Fresh FM.

Sowore was speaking on the South-West security outfit, Amotekun, saying he believed in any group or person who was genuinely interested in the safety of the people and the society at large. His position however was for them to have proper training. He said it had came to his awareness that Amotekun had also been “engaged in brutality.”

He also said his party, the AAC, was different from other political parties because it was based on ideology.

He said, “It is based on ideology and based on personalities who are of convictions. People who have distinguished themselves radically, who believe Nigeria should not be run this way.”

Speaking further, Sowore alleged that other parties were transactional structures. “They come after four years to discuss elections in the neighborhood and when the transaction is over, they move on to only return after four years again. This hasn’t worked for the country. Therefore, the AAC is different,” he said.

He added, “Politics should not be for political jobbers – those who see politics as a job to feed themselves to survive. Politicians should also have a dignified job.

“As a politician, I am also a journalist and I’ve taught as a lecturer in two universities in New York.”

Speaking on the call for restructuring, he said, “Restructuring is another aphorism for confusion. The best way to restructure Nigeria is to first have a brand new constitution. The constitution at hand wasn’t sovereign. If it was sovereign, the conference itself would have determined how the constitution would have been promulgated.

“People are continuing to lose hope in the democratic process. I believe it is up to Nigerians. It is up to the people listening to change the course of the country and if not, we will be here again complaining in a few years. “