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Tag: Nigeria Police Force

  • Offa robbery: group urges police not to politicise case

    A youth group, the Concern Kwara Youth Movement has called on the Nigeria Police Force not to politicise the April 5, Offa robbery case.

    A statement signed by the coordinator of the group Mr Salahudeen Lukman and made available to our reporter in Abuja on Friday, called for proper investigation into allegations made against Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki.

    Lukman said the group sympathised with the victims of the ugly incident and commended the State Government and the Nigeria Police Force for their swift response in reinforcing security in the area.

    “Silence in the face of injustice is sin against humanity; hence the leadership of this group has deemed it necessary to make its position known on the investigation of the case.

    “The Nigeria Police Force is greatly commended for the rapid action in apprehending the suspects, but we are also calling on the police to ignore any form of tricks to politicise the case.

    “We condemn in strong term the attempt to use the souls of 33 people including a pregnant woman and nine police officers to play politics on the altar of political vendetta.

    “We demand that the suspects be treated as armed robbers and not political thugs since they were all arrested in connection to robbery and not as political thugs,’’ he said.

    Lukman urged the police not to give the incident a political name yet, but face the investigation with all honesty to clear the suspicion of the people.

    “It is obvious that the mention of Saraki as their political god father is an attempt to draw political coloration to escape or extend the judgment.

    “We urge the police not fall for the trick but immediately investigate to get the real culprits and prosecute them,’’ he said.

    Lukman said that the mention of the Senate President in the case was nothing but a deliberate attempt to ridicule and tarnish his image and asked that the issue be handled with caution to avoid unintended damage to his personality.

  • Offa robbery suspects attended Saraki daughter’s wedding – Police

    The Nigeria Police Force on Wednesday said that investigations have shown that five suspects of the April 5 multiple bank robberies in Offa, Kwara State,  attended the wedding ceremony of Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

    The Force also said that investigations showed that three gang leaders who participated actively in the Offa bank robberies, Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye aka Arrow and Adeola Abraham followed Dr. Saraki to Oloffa’s Palace when he paid a condolence visit to Offa after the robberies.

    It displayed photographs which showed one of the suspects wearing an aseobi used during the embattled senator’s daughter’s wedding.

    Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, ACP Jimoh Moshood, disclosed these while parading two new suspects out of the three persons named by the gang leader, Ayoade Akinnibosun a.k.a AY, in the Offa bank robberies in Abuja on Wednesday. He said one of the suspects was still at large.

    He gave the names of the suspects as Alhaji Kehinde Gobiri aka Captain ‘47yrs’ and Alhaji Oba Shuaib Olododo aka Jawando ‘53yrs’ both native of Kwara state.

    Moshood explained that the suspects had provided useful information to the Police about their connections to the embattled senator.

    He told reporters that both suspects have admitted to committing crimes and criminalities for the senate president in Kwara Central Senatorial District under the guise of political thuggery.

    Read Also: Offa robbery: Allegations against Saraki, Governor Ahmed

    He said: “The Nigeria Police Force has arrested two out of the three suspects mentioned by the overall gang leader of Offa Bank robbery. The two suspects are now in Police custody.

    “They have admitted to various crimes and criminalities they have committed in Kwara Central Senatorial District under the guise of political thuggery for the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki. They are currently under investigation and will be charged to court on completion of investigation.

    “New revelations from further investigation into the matter show that all the five gang leaders namely; Akinnibosun, Ogunleye, Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran have direct connection to the Senate President as new pictures of one of the five gang leaders when paraded by the police earlier in the week was in ‘Aso Ebi’ (trouser) used during the Senate President daughter’s wedding.”

    “The gang leaders further admitted that they attended the Senate President daughter’s wedding held recently.

    “It was also discovered during further investigations that three gang leaders who participated actively in the Offa Bank robbery; (1) Ayoade Akinnibosun aka AY, (ii) Ibukunle Ogunleye aka Arrow and (iii) Adeola Abraham followed the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki to Oloffa’s Palace when the Senate President paid a condolence visit to Offa after the bank robbery.”

    Moshood also said the senate president was still under investigation in connection with the bank robberies.

    The Force PRO said the police had not withdrawn its summon issued to Dr. Saraki, in regards to the bank robberies.

    He insisted that investigators were still expecting the Senate President to report to the Force Force Intelligence Response Team office at Guzape, Abuja to explain his links to the five gang leaders involved in the robberies.

    Moshood added that it was only the police that could issue a statement about the ongoing investigation, noting that Saraki was being expected for interrogation by the police.

    He also said the Force would not be deterred in its investigation no matter the personality involved.

    According to him, the confessions of the suspects under its custody showed that the senate president had a case to answer.

    He said: “The invitation was never withdrawn, I read to you (journalists) that the Senate President was being invited to come and answer to the allegations levelled against him by the five gang leaders here. As I said earlier on, the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki has a case to answer.

    “The Nigeria Police Force will not be cowed or succumb to intimidation from any quarter in carrying out a thorough and discreet investigation into the Offa bank robberies where significant successes have been recorded.

    “The ongoing investigation will be driven to a logical conclusion. Meanwhile, the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki is still under investigation in connection to the robbery and the Nigeria Police Force will do everything possible within the ambit of the law to ensure that justice is done in this case.”

    The gang leader, Akinnibosun in an interview explained that his gang members went with the Senate President to visit the Oloffa’s palace, but not on his invitation, adding that they heard about the visit through Saraki’s friend, Samshudeen Baca who invited them.

    He said: “I have a friend, he is a politician close to the Senate President, his name is Samshudeen Bada. He was the one that called me and told me that the Senate President was going to Offa, so I called Kunle Arrow and I called Adex that the Senate President is going to Offa.

    “I went with my Lexus SUV to pick them and we went to Offa and on getting there, not quite 10-15 minutes, the Senate President was done. When he was done with the Olofa, he said he was going to Ilorin, we followed him, when we got to a village, Eleyeoka, he stopped to ease himself, Senator Ibrahim Rafiu (Saraki’s friend) now gave us N50,000, he gave the money to me,” the suspect stated

    When asked how he got the Aso-ebi (ceremony uniform) that was worn during Saraki’s daughter’s wedding, Abraham said it was provided by Akinnibosu, stressing that he had no direct relationship with the Senate President, insisting that he was just a mere political follower.

    The suspect who was still wearing the Aso-ebi, could not provide the amount of money that was stolen during the robberies, adding that it had not been shared.

    “After the operation, I asked Kunle about the money that was realized and Kunle asked Ayoade (Akinnibosun) who asked Adikwu who is the overall leader of the gang. He said we can’t share the money now because the police may use it to track us,” he stated.

  • Saraki has questions to answer, Police insist

    The Nigeria Police Force said it had not withdrawn its invitation to President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki to report to its office over alleged criminal indictment by five suspected gang leaders involved in the recent Offa bank robbery.

    The newsmen reports that the police on Sunday, June  3, invited Saraki for questioning over alleged criminal indictment by five suspected gang leaders alleging to be his political thugs.

    Saraki had twitted on his Twitter handle that the police had withdrawn the invitation for him to report to the Force Intelligence Response Team office in Guzape, Abuja.

    He also said that the police had asked him to respond to the questions in writing.

    The Force Spokesman, ACP Jimoh Moshood, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen on the update on the alleged indictment of Saraki on Wednesday in Abuja.

    “The Senate president is still under investigation in connection to the Offa bank robbery and the police will do everything possible to ensure that justice is done in this case,” he said.

    The spokesman said that there was no deadline for Saraki to report to the police. Moshood was also evasive from the possible action the police would take if Saraki failed to report to the police.

    He said that the force would not be cowed or succumb to intimidation from any quarter in carrying out discreet investigation on the matter.

    Moshood said that two out of the three more suspected thugs working for Saraki, mentioned by the overall gang leader of the Offa bank robbery have been arrested.

    The suspects are: Alhaji Kehinde Gobiri, 47, a.k.a. Captain and Oba Shuaib Olododo, 57, a.k.a Jawando, from Ilorin East and South Local Government Areas respectively.

    Read Also: Two more Offa robbery suspects implicated Saraki – Police

    He said that the suspects, who have admitted to the various crimes they have committed, are currently in police custody in Ilorin, Kwara.

    “They are currently under investigation and will be charged to court on completion of investigation,” he said.

    Moshood said that the arrest of the two suspects followed further confessions of the five gang leaders earlier arrested by the police.

    The five suspects are: Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran. Moshood said that the two suspects were also arrested with firearms in the custody of the police in Ilorin, Kwara.

    The newsmen reports that Saraki recently alleged a plot by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, to implicate him in a criminal case.

    NAN

  • JAMB screens 37, 062 police applicants in 156 CBT centres

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Friday screened about 37,062 applicants shortlisted nationwide for police recruitment exercise.

    The screening was done across 156 Computer Based Test Centres (CBT) and administered by JAMB.

    About 133,324 applicants applied for the vacant positions but only 6,000 successful candidates are expected to be recruited at the end of the exercise.

    Successful applicants are expected to proceed to Police training colleges, after which they would be integrated into the Nigeria Police Force.

    Head of Training, Force Headquarters, Mr Istifanus Shettima, who monitored the screening exercise in Abuja in the company of the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said JAMB was involved in the exercise to ensure transparency and credibility of the selection process.

    Shettima, who is also an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), said the target of the Police is to recruit officers with excellent standard through JAMB processes.

    “We want to maintain standard in the Nigeria Police Force that is why we brought JAMB in. We know JAMB has been very excellent in conducting exams. We want excellent people to join the police force,” he said.

    Prof. Oloyede commended the Force for enlisting the board to handle its recruitment exercise.

    He said the board was not sure if the Police Force would comply with its rules and regulations when it first approached them with the offer to screen its applicants.

    The JAMB registrar vowed that the board would continue to maintain standard while ensuring that all its screening exercises remained transparent.

    “I must congratulate the Nigerian Police Force because when they came we were not sure but they complied with all the agreement about setting the standard and ensuring that there will be no waiver at any point of the exercise.

    “We have agencies who believe in us and they patronize us, particularly those who want to do things transparently”.

    “But if you don’t want to do something that is not transparent, JAMB is not the right place to go.

    “If you know that you want to set the rules and you want the rules to be enforced, and transparently so, JAMB offers a service at a cost that you cannot get elsewhere because we are using already established public service facility.

    “All we ensure is that there must be set standard, and the set standard must be enforced,” Prof. Oloyede said.

  • Reps to investigate Rivers’ Court invasion 

    The House of Representatives is to investigate the assault on the judiciary in Rivers state.

    While condemning the assault with the invasion of High court complex in Port Harcourt by hoodlums allegedly aided by a Federal security agency, the House has mandated an ad hoc committee to examine the immediate and remote causes of the incidence without let or favour.

    This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Betty Apiafi (PDP, Rivers), who alleged that the assault carried out by hoodlums was aided by men of the Federal Special Anti-robbery squad (FSARS).

    According to her, on May 11, 2018 organized hoodlums aided by over 40 operatives of FSARS under the command of Akin Fakorede, the Commander, FSARS, Rivers state blocked all the entrances of the Rivers state High court complex for hours preventing judicial workers, judges, litigants and lawyers from gaining access into their office and court rooms to carry out their judicial duties and businesses.

    She said: “While the siege lasted, the organised hoodlums aided by the FARS freely harassed innocent persons including lawyers, judges and other judiciary staff while public properties were also vandalised.

    Read Also:Bomb scare at Rivers court

    “This incident was purportedly a fall out of the APC Local Government Congress where an aggrieved faction had gone to court to seek redress, while other faction with backing of the security men were out to prevent the court from sitting.

    “Such brazen and sponsored invasion of an arm of government amounts to an assault and contempt of the judiciary and a show of violence as well as an infringement of the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria”.

    Saying that security agencies especially the Nigeria Police Force are failing in their responsibility to protect democratic institutions, the lawmaker added, “The invasion of institutions of government is now becoming a norm and no doubt ridicules our democracy before the international community”.

    Bright Tamuno (PDP, Rivers), in his contribution said the House must make a strong statement condemning the invasion of the court because “Today it’s Rivers state, who knows who is next”.

    Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje (PDP, Abia), regretted that nothing seems to have changed, with politicians appearing not to have learnt any lesson.

    “In 1999, we said it was nascent democracy and then it graduated into a fledgling democracy we can’t continue like this all of us here are leaders and we need to ask ourselves whether we want to test down this country,” she said.

    The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun.

  • Asymmetric warfare: DHQ collaborate with police, NSCDC

    The Nigerian Military said Monday that a synergy is being worked out on military campaigns that would involve collaborators with the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    The Chief of Defence staff,  Gen Abayomi Olonisakin who dropped the hint at a training programme for military, police and civil defence Corps personnel at the Army Resource Center in Abuja, said this has become imperative now that the nation is facing asymmetric warfare.

    Olonisakin noted that the initiative was informed by the need to train officers of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, on campaign planning at operational and strategic levels.

    He said: “The purpose of this course is to train officers of the Armed Forces of Nigeria on campaign planning at operational and strategic level.

    “The course is viewed as a precursor to entrenching multi-agency training to enable us develop understanding and expertise in planning and executing campaign in either single, joint or multi agency levels.”

    Represented by Rear Admiral Dogara Albehu, the CDS added that the 5-day training course, organized by the Defence Headquarters in collaboration with the British Military Advisory Team in Nigeria,was ” specifically designed for participants who are senior staff trained and possibly possess fellow Defence Colleges and equivalent qualifications.”

    According to him “the inclusion of the Ministry of Defence Staff, the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps is to generate a synergy and more rapour in the understanding of roles of campaign planning particularly, that the Armed Forces is now concerned with fighting asymmetric warfare.”

    He added that he approved the training course since it was in tandem was with his vision:

    “To ensure well-motivated trained and equipped Armed Forces that is responsive to national security commitment.”

    While noting that the training was the first of its kind, he said: “It is hoped that the training would facilitate discussions and debate throughout to ensure that participants are provided with greater knowledge and understanding of the entire planning process.”

    The training course had 30 participants from the services operational areas, Ministry of Defence and the Nigeria Police Force as well as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

    Read Also: Boko Haram: Military urged to be wary of guerrilla warfare

  • Police arrest 56 suspected bandits, militias in Birnin Gwari

    The Nigeria Police Force has arrested 56 suspected bandits and criminal militias in connection with killings in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State and Zamfara areas.

    The suspects are: Abdullahi Abubakar , 35, gang Leader, Halidu Musa, 34, principal suspect, Mohammed Ruwa, 30, principal suspect, Mohammed Sani, 30,principal suspect and Dahiru Yahaya, 38, principal suspect, among others.

    The Force spokesman, ACP Jimoh Moshood, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said that the suspects who were in five groups were also responsible for armed robberies, cattle rustling and dealing in firearms in the areas.

    Moshood said that items recovered from them include:Three SMG Rifles, one Foreign Made AK52 Rifle, two Foreign Made AK47 rifles, 41 Locally Fabricated AK47 Rifle, three Beretta Pistols and one Kral Magnun Pistol, among others.

    He said that the gang led by Mohammed Rabiu was arrested after four members of the gang were killed by the Police Joint Team in a shootout in the forest at Bawan Daji, Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara.

    “He confessed to have been responsible for the killing of 46 people during the burial of three people that his gang killed earlier in Bawan Daji village in Zamfara,”he said.

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, recently paid an operational visit to Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State to assess the security situation following killings in the area.

    Moshood said that Idris during the visit approved the creation of one Police Area Command and two new Divisional Headquarters.

    The spokesman said he also ordered the immediate deployment of additional 200 personnel and 10 patrol vehicles to beef-up security in Birnin-Gwari to Zamfara to flush out armed bandits in the area.

    He said that the arrest followed the deployment of the Joint Police Special Team under the Supervision of Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State.

    “This operation which is still ongoing has been yielding positive results and culminated in the arrest of the above mentioned vicious armed bandits and militias terrorising the areas,”he said.

    Moshood said that the suspects would all be charged to court on completion of investigation.(NAN)

  • 6000 Jobs: Police warn candidates against bribery

    The Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday warned candidates undergoing screening for the 6000 Police Job not offer anyone bribe.

    The police authority also said anyone caught giving or bribe will be automatically disqualified from the exercise and arrested.

    This was disclosed in Abuja  during the inspection of the exercise in the FCT Command by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), in charge of Finance and Administration, Shuaib Gambo.

    Speaking after the inspection, he said: “The IG gave the entire DIG matching order that we should go and supervise the recruitment exercise in all the geo-political zones to make sure that they exercise is smooth and hitch-free.

    “In previous recruitment exercises, people always complain that people were recruited from local government other than the one they claimed. The complaint led to many cases of corruption. This time around, we have put in place very serious measures to ensure that nothing of such happens.

    “As you can see, the process is very thorough. You must go from one stage to another and when you qualify, you would be given a paper.  I want to appeal to members of the public and candidates  not to give anybody one dime for this recruitment because it will not help in any way.

    He added: “If you qualify, you qualify and you will be recruited. It is going to be very competitive because only 6000 will be taken and right now, we have over 133,000 that were shortlisted for this exercise.

    “So, have faith in yourself and don’t give anybody one dime. If your papers are good and you have the correct height; you don’t have to give anybody money because the person will just spend your money and end up not helping you.

    On the measures put in place to ensure that the process is devoid of any form of corrupt practice, Gambo said: “We have so many checks and balances in this process to make sure that only those who are qualified are recruited. So please don’t give any money to anybody to induce because it will not help you at all. It will even get you disqualified and even arrested. So let your paper and other qualification speak for you.

    “We have ensured that the recruitment team are well briefed and those who are in charge of the processes know what they are doing.

    “We have also lectured the men to make sure that they do not get any gratification for whatever exercise that is going on.

    “We have also incorporated other organization like the Federal character Commission,  Police Service Commission,  JAMB, and the medical team. So with all these team, it will be difficult to bribe your way through all these people”, he said

  • 6000 Police Job: 1265 candidates undergo screening in FCT

    …Successful candidates to resume training camp by June

     

    The Nigeria Police Force on Monday said 1265 candidates in the FCT are currently undergoing screening for the 6000 Police Job.

    The Police said over 133,000 candidates across the country were shortlisted for the job

    The Police also assured that there would be transparency and proper representation from the 774 local governments which would reflect federal character.

    This was disclosed in Abuja on Monday by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Training, DIG Emmanuel Inyang during the inspection of the exercise.

    The DIG also assured that the ongoing screening would ensure that accidental discharge becomes a thing of the past in the Force.

    He said: “We are here today for the screening of the successful candidate who are willing to join the Force.

    “This screening is a screening of documents to make sure that they meet up with the qualification.  We will proceed to physical screening thereafter to make sure they have the correct height, correct chest measurement,  no flat feet, no bad dentition,  no knock-knees, no tattoo and to make sure that they are not deformed in anyway because we want to have the best for Nigerians.

    “When we finish with the physical screening, they will be subjected to aptitude test which would be conducted by Joint Admission and Matriculation Board to ensure transparency.”

    He further explained: “After the test by JAMB, we are going to invite medical personnel to conduct another medical screening. The personnel will carry out various test like X-ray, blood test and others to make sure that they are well and fit for the job.

    “When that finishes, we are going to invite another doctor who is an optometrist to make sure that their sight is unquestionable and that their vision is okay because you need to be able to see very well before you can use gun.

    “We will not stop there, for the first time; we are going to invite a psychiatric doctor who is going to do mental evaluation to make sure they are okay mentally and to make sure that they are not on drugs.

    “So a case of accidental discharge is going to be a thing of the past. We want to give Nigerians the best”, he said.

    On when the screening would be over, Inyang said: “The screening exercise should be over by early June because training will start in the month of June”.

    On the number of men to be recruited from each local government area , he said: “All the local government will be well represented.

    “Each local government will be represented so that federal character comes to place. We have representatives from the police service Commission and the Federal Character Commission to ensure that the federal character is captured.”

  • Police recruitment: 1,113 begin screening in Lagos

    The Nigeria Police Force on Monday,  has recorded no fewer than 1,113 applicants in its on going recruitment exercise in Lagos State.

    About 6,000 applicants were shortlisted for the exercise nationwide.

    The Presiding Officer for the screening, ACP Okon Otoyo, gave the figure at the Police College, Ikeja, venue of the screening.

    The Nation reports that some of the applicants reported at the venue as early as 7.30 a.m.

    At 10a.m., some senior police officers began to teach them how to fill forms. The officers gave out some other instructions.

    The Nation reports that some applicants, ignorant of what they were expected to bring to the venue, began to purchase plastic canvass, white T-shirts and shorts when they got to the college.

    Otoyo said: “We have started the screening. We have 1,113 applicants to be screened in Lagos and it will take one week.’’

    Some of the candidates, who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity, said that they were looking forward to having a bright career in the Nigeria Police Force.

    Some, however, decried the high cost of training kits such as canvass and shirts which they bought in front of the college.

    Read Also: Edo strengthens ties with Police, Navy on Security

    “We were not told what to bring to the venue; someone only called me requesting me to check for my name on the internet; luckily, I found my name.

    “There was no instruction on what to bring apart from certificates.

    “It was when we got to the Police College that we discovered that some of our colleagues were putting on white-and-white kits.

    “Normally, I can’t buy plastic canvass more than N600, but because of emergency, I bought mine N1, 000, while some of my colleagues bought theirs more than N1000,” one of the applicants said.

    Another applicant told our reporter that he desired policing in spite of the hazards of the profession.

    “We know a lot of things are wrong in Nigeria and we have to put them right. Although policemen and other security agents are being killed, we must join to fight crime,’’ he said.

    NAN