The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police Service Commission

  • Police spends N600m on dogs

    Police spends N600m on dogs

    The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr Solomon Arase, has said that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had spent over N600 million on the procurement and maintenance of foreign dogs in the last few years.

    Arase made the disclosure at the inauguration of the Police Dog Breeding Centre and Ultra Modern Mounted Troop in Abuja on Thursday.

    “This is certainly not sustainable in the face of the current dwindling resources,” he said.

    The IG said that so much money was being spent on the importation of dogs from foreign countries that rarely adapted to the country’s policing objective.

    He said that the projects inaugurated were funded within the budgetary provisions of the Force Animal Branch.

    Arase said that the force animal branch had remained under utilised in the past while the force continued to rely on importation of dogs and other animals for its operations.

    He said that the centre was built to aid the police acquire capacity to locally breed police dogs as well as support other security agencies in the country.

    The Police boss said that the centre if effectively utilised, would save the nation some foreign exchange that would have gone into procurement of dogs from foreign countries.

    The IG said that the centre had the capacity to breed and supply police dogs to the entire West African sub-region.

    “It is projected that at optimal breeding capacity, it can produce well above 200 dogs per year,” he said.

    He said that the establishment of the facilities was part of the long term strategies aimed at restoring police primacy and aligning it to best global standards.

    In a remark, the Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, said the projects were timely considering the current security challenges facing the country.

    Dambazau said that Nigerians deserved a police that was competent and reliable.

    He said that the projects would not only reduce spending but would also provide job opportunities for other Nigerians aside from the police.

    The high point of the occasion was a display by police dogs and award presentation to the Minister of Interior, Arase, and Mr Mike Okiro, Chairman, Police Service Commission, among other.

  • Commission approves promotion of 3,684 Inspectors to ASPs

    Commission approves promotion of 3,684 Inspectors to ASPs

    The Police Service Commission has approved the promotion of 3,684 inspectors to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).

    This is contained in statement issued by the Mr Ikechukwu Ani, Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission in Abuja on Sunday.

    It said that eight pilots were also promoted from ASP to the rank of Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP) and two aircraft engineers to DSPs.

    The statement stated that the promotions took effect from Jan. 1.

  • Senate seeks stress-free recruitment of police officers

    Senate seeks stress-free recruitment of police officers

    The Senate Tuesday examined the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the recruitment of 10,000 qualified citizens into the Nigeria Police Force.

    The upper chamber noted that Nigeria, with the total number of 305,579 police officers to a population of 170 million is under-policed.

    Senator Isiaka Adeleke (Osun West), who moved the motion noted the situation “has worsened the security situation of the country with increased incidences of kidnapping, armed robberies, assassinations, arson and of course, terrorism.”

    The lawmakers asked the Police Service Commission to evolve a stress-free recruitment process devoid of the crisis which accompanied the 2014 Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment exercise.

    The Senate also advised the Ministry of Police Affairs, Police Service Commission and the Inspector-General of Police to come up with plans to upgrade police training facilities and incentives that will improve the wellbeing of the prospective police officers.

    It also mandated the Federal Character Commission to ensure strict compliance with federal character principle in the police recruitment process while the Senate Committee on Police Affairs should monitor the process.

  • Police Service Commission disowns recruitment advert

    Police Service Commission disowns recruitment advert

    The Police Service Commission has disowned an online advertisement on the recruitment of general duty police officers.

    This is contained in statement issued in Abuja on Monday by Mr Ikechukwu Ani, the Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission.

    “The attention of the Police Service Commission has been drawn to an online publication of an advertisement for the recruitment of cadet ASPs in the professional cadre purported to emanate from the commission.

    “The commission wishes to state that the said publication did not originate from its office and it is not presently recruiting that category of police officers,” it said.

    The statement advised the public to discountenance the publication.

    It said that the commission was currently investigating the source of the advertisement.

    The statement appealed to the media to always crosscheck any information before publication.

    It said that the commission would continue to use its established channels of communication in dissemination of information.

    The statement said that masterminds of the advertisement would be dealt with.

  • Okiro reacts to N275m fraud allegation

    Okiro reacts to N275m fraud allegation

    The Chairman, Police Service Commission, Mr Mike Okiro, on Monday reacted to the allegation that he defrauded the Commission of N275 million and vowed not to succumb to the blackmail.

    According to NAN report, Okiri alleged that a staff of the commission, Mr. Aaron Kaase, of the Press Unit, colluded with a Journalist and Publisher (name withheld) to blackmail him with the allegation to collect N10 million.

    The chairman, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja, said the commission received N350 from the Federal Government to train its staff to monitor the conduct of policemen involved in the 2015 general elections.

    It will be recalled that Okiro appeared before the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences (ICPC) on June 4, following a petition by Kaase that he embezzled N275 million belonging to the Commission.

    “I still believe that a clear conscience fears no accusation and I will not yield to blackmail no matter how long it takes to clear my name.

    “I have nothing to fear,’’ he said.

    According to Okiro, we (Commission) received N350 million for election monitoring/conferences/training of the staff of the commission and deployed them to states to monitor police conduct during the general elections of 2015.

    The chairman said that the commission spent N217.3 million of the N350 million, leaving a balance of N132.6 million in the commission’s project account.

    He, however, said that on April 2, he got a text message from the publisher that he was doing a story on the alleged fraud.

    Okiro said that the publisher claimed to have sent the story to six other newspapers for publication and demanded N10 million to cover it up and save him of the embarrassment.

    Okiro quoted the publisher as threatening that “Gen. Buhari is coming to fight corruption, once the papers publish any such story against you (Okiro), he would remove you immediately’’.

    The chairman further alleged that the publisher, on April 8, sent his account details for the said N10 million to be paid into it to save him – Okiro, of embarrassment.

    He said to stop the journalist from bothering him with the demand for the money; he invited and handed him over to the police Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

    This, he said was after several calls and text messages from the journalist demanding for the money.

    “The result was mind boggling and depicted the comedy of errors. It was revealed that Mr Aaron Kaase, my erstwhile Protocol Officer, wanted to wed in May and needed money.

    “He (Kaase) felt the quickest way was to connive with the journalist to extort money from me so they could share it, and so he could conduct his traditional wedding.

    “The journalist was brought to my office by the officer in charge of SARS and his officers.

    “The journalist confronted Aaron Kaase in the presence of the commissioners, permanent secretary, directors and other management staff of the PSC,’’ he said.

    According to Okiro, Kaase confirmed that he gave my phone number to the journalist to call and demand N10 million.

    On suspension of Kaase from the commission, the chairman explained that it was done because Kaase was facing a criminal charge involving N1 million fraud.

    He alleged that Kaase had been arrested and charged to court for allegedly defrauding someone of the money to secure for him a US visa which he failed to deliver.

    Okiro said that Kaase’s suspension had nothing to do with the petition against him.

  • 16 police commissioners redeployed

    The Police Service Commission has approved the immediate redeployment of 16 commissioners of police.

    The redeployment is in line with the Commission’s drive to reposition the Force for optimal performance, said a statement signed by the head of press and public relations of the commission, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani.

    Those affected by the exercise are the Commissioner of Police for Ekiti State, Fredrick Lakanu who has been moved to Ogun State Command, Ibrahim K. Idris, CP PMF FHQ, Abuja, to Kano State Command, Musa Katsina Mohammed, NIPSS, Jos, to Oyo State Command and Usman Tilli Abubakar, NIPSS, Jos, to Jigawa State Command.

    The postings are listed below:
    – Olufemi David Ogunbayode, NIPSS, Jos to Zamfara State Command,

    – Mohammed Sani Usman, CP M.S ‘F’ Dept. FHQ to Nasarawa Command,

    – Nyats Nyehsu Jatau, CP Railway Lagos to Taraba State Command,

    – Mohammed K. Mohammed, Dep. CMDT, PSC, Jos to Bauchi Command

    – Karma Hosea Hassan, CP Anambra State, to Rivers State.

    – CP‎ Joshak Habila, CP CTU, FHQ to Abia State Command,

    – Salisu Fagge Abdullahi, CP SFU, FHQ to Sokoto state Command‎,

    – Damilola Samuel Adegbuyi CPSFU, FHQ to Edo State Command‎,

    – Adeyemi O. Samuel Ogunjemilusi, CP Interpol FCID, FHQ to Ekiti Com,

    – Dibal Paul Yakadi FC2i/c Anambra State to CP Anambra State Command,

    – Tonye Ebitibituwa CP ‘A’ R&P FHQ Abuja to Cross River State Command and

    – Danladi Mshelbwala CP EOD FHQ, Abuja to CP Kebbi State Command.