I was removed as Commissioner of Police because I kicked against further killings in Benue -Fatai Owoseni

Former Lagos Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni has said that the real reason he was redeployed from Benue State was because he refused to obey orders from his superiors that could have led to chaos and further killings in the troubled state.

Owoseni was posted from Lagos by the then Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to Benue State to quell the herdsmen and farmers crisis that led to the death of more than 100 persons including policemen in the state.

I was deployed to Benue in the heat of the farmers–herdsmen crisis and to the best of my ability, I discharged my responsibility within the ambit of the law.

In police work, we are the most endangered. Instructions will be given to you and you will be caught in-between obeying superior instruction and respecting the constitution of the country. I held that as a principle that my loyalty is to the constitution of Nigeria, not to any human being.

Where there are conflicts like that, if you are not able to balance what you do, any mistake of judgment can cost you your job. It’s just for you to be matured enough to know where your obligation lies, to be able to differentiate between what is lawful and unlawful instruction. I can tell you that I discharged my responsibility to the best of my ability.

Someone will sit in Abuja and give you instruction, it is for you that is on the ground to know the implication of that instruction. Instructions that will lead to killings and disturbance in the state. Whatever that might have happened, that has become history now. The most important thing is that I have my integrity intact.