FOR Ali Janga, outgoing Commissioner of Police (CP) in Kogi State, the truth dawned like the knell of eternal damnation; chaos permeated his peace immediately Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris, announced his removal as Kogi CP.
Like a poisonous tide unleashed like a dam, calm withdrew from Janga’s world following the escape from police custody, of six suspects, including two principal suspects, Kabiru Saidu aka Osama and Nuhu Salisu aka Small, on his watch.
While he embarked on a race against time to re-arrest the suspects and save his job, Janga had to contend with the fear of reprimand by higher police authorities.
He probably envisaged his fate prior to its dawn. Soon after the suspects made a miraculous escape from his custody, Janga was given the boot by IGP Idris.
Even before his removal, the deposed CP was thrown in a state of flux. Under immense pressure, he embarked on a desperate quest to apprehend the suspects but his removal from office threw a spanner in his works and cast a dark pall on his future as a senior police officer.
However, in a remarkable twist to the incident, the police has announced the re-arrest of three out of the six suspects involved in the arms case against Senator Dino Melaye.
“Yes, it is confirmed, but note that I am no longer the CP, I have been removed, so next time talk to the new CP, ” said Janga, the outgoing police commissioner of Kogi.
The suspects were reportedly re-arrested yesterday at an undisclosed location. Two of them allegedly sustained gunshot wounds while they attempted to escape from the police.
They are receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, according to police sources.
It would be recalled that Police IG Idris, announced Janga’s removal, soon after the suspects were declared missing. While being paraded by the police, Saidu and Salisu, confessed that Senator Dino Melaye and Alhaji Mohammed Audu were some of their patrons.
The suspects’ revelations established them as high profile detainees; given the magnitude of their disclosure, the police declared them crucial to their case against the embattled senator. Their alleged escape was therefore, a rude shock to the country and a great embarrassment to police authorities.
The Police in Lokoja on Wednesday, alleged that Saidu and Salisu, who named Melaye as their supplier of guns had escaped from custody.
Addressing pressmen at the state command headquarters, Lokoja, CP Janga said that Saidu alias Osama and Nuhu Salisu alias Small, escaped at about 3:21 a.m. at the A Police Division in Lokoja, where they were being kept in lawful custody.
According to him, four other suspects escaped along with Saidu and Salisu, bringing the total number of fleeing suspects to six.
He said both Saidu and Salisu escaped on Wednesday when they were supposed to be arraigned before a Federal High Court alongside Melaye and Mohammed Audu, who was also named by the suspects as their sponsor.
Janga identified Aliyu Isa, Adams Suleiman, Emmanuel Audu and Musa Mohammed as four other suspects that escaped from custody.
He said that 13 policemen, comprising five operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and eight conventional policemen on duty when the incident happened have been detained for interrogation.
‘The 13 police officers who were on duty when the incident occurred were defaulted and detained for interrogation,” he said.
Corroborating Janag, the police in a statement signed by ACP Jimoh Moshood, the Force Public Relations Officer, Force headquarters, on Wednesday, said IGP Idris was dissatisfied with the circumstances surrounding the escape of the six suspects, including the two principal suspects – Kabiru Saidu, and Nuhu Salisu – who indicted Senator Melaye and Mohammed Audu in a case of conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearm, already filed at the Federal High Court, Lokoja which came up in court today (Wednesday).
Incidentally, Moshood was also in the mix when the incident that led to Janga’s exit as Kogi CP, began to unfold. Moshood reportedly led the police’s PR team to Lokoja penultimate week, to parade Saidu and Salisu, before the press.
During the parade, the two principal suspects narrated how they got introduced to Melaye, where they first met and how munitions and cash were given to them.
A visibly mortified police IG, Idris, moved swiftly to announce Janga’s removal from his privileged position, hours after the news broke of the escape of the six suspects.
The IGP ordered the Esa Sunday Ogbu, Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations, Force Headquarters, Abuja to take over as the new Kogi State Commissioner of Police (CP).
He also ordered the transfer of 13 other police officers out of the state; the officers have been detained and are being investigated for their roles in the purported escape.
However, in a dramatic turn, Melaye, alleged sponsor of the suspects, pointed towards Lugard House, that is, Kogi Government House, where Governor Yaya Bello presides, as the abode of the mastermind of his travails.
Melaye made the allegation soon after the suspects confessed that he supplied them with guns and money.
In a state that is steadily living up to the proverbial ‘one week-one trouble’ sobriquet that is being ascribed to it, Melaye’s claims have been generating unprecedented buzz within political and social circuits.
It would be recalled that the embattled lawmaker had alerted via the social media, of an alleged plot by the Kogi State government to frame him, using the police. It wasn’t surprising therefore, that he vehemently denied the allegations made against him.
Reacting to the incident, Ayodele Olukore Okono, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi urged the police authorities to curtail the situation.
“We are looking towards the IG to do something fast, because we are no longer safe in Kogi. If it were a DPO that was in charge here, the case will be brought before the Commissioner of Police, but for criminals that were paraded, some of who accused Senator Dino Melaye of arming them and of being their sponsor, to now escape from custody, a lot needs to be answered. It is not only to remove the CP, but for thorough investigation to be carried out,” he said.
Okono added that: “These criminals cannot be allowed out there in the open, because a lot is at stake here. We are worried as we no longer feel safe. The authorities should please get to the root of all that is happening here.
“A whole senator was openly accused of criminal association, and suddenly the principal suspects disappear into thin air. No. Something urgent must be done. The state is steadily sliding into anarchy, and a halt must be put to the trend.”
Offering an alternative perspective to the episode, Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Bode Ogunmola, stated that, “When you tell one lie, you need to continue to tell more lies to cover the previous once.
“Every reasonable human being knows that police cannot come out clean on this matter. So, as a party, we are not surprised that they are now blowing hot and cold. Police can’t come out clean on the escaped suspect because from what is in public domain, the cell was not broken into. This means that someone opened the gates for them to walk out. Conclusively, the police may need to tell the world the truth as their defense so far cannot convince anybody.”