The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police nab suspects in Jigawa

    The police in Jigawa State have arrested eight suspects for alleged theft and receipt of stolen items in Dutse Local Government.

    Spokesman Jinjiri Abdu confirmed the arrest in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse.

    He said four of the suspects, aged between 18 and 19, were nabbed for alleged burglary and theft in Takur, Dutse.

    Jinjiri added that they were arrested after they broke into one of the houses and stole a plasma TV, DSTV decoder, iPad, laptop, a Tecno phone and clothes.

    The spokesman said the TV and decoder were recovered from them after their arrest.

    According to him, they were among 10 suspected thieves the command nabbed on May 14.

    NAN reports that a laptop, two plasma TV sets and phones were among items recovered from the suspects.

    Jinjiri said the others were arrested for alleged receipt of stolen items.

    He said the suspects would be arraigned.

    Investigation showed the suspects had been terrorising residents by breaking into shops and houses.

    In May, they broke into 10 shops and houses and stole foodstuff and others.

  • Police arrest 22 suspects in Niger

    •415 cows recovered

    Niger State Police Command arrested 22 suspected criminals, recovered 415 cows and seven cars between July and September, Commissioner Austin Agbonlahor said in Minna yesterday.

    Agbonlahor, giving account of his stewardship, said: “It will interest you to know that from July 14 to September when I assumed duty, we nabbed 22 suspects. They include six cattle rustlers and five kidnappers. We also recovered 415 cows and seven cars.’’

    He said the police also recovered two AK-47 rifles and one locally-made pistol.

    The police boss said some of the suspects had cases in courts; some were convicted while others are under investigation.

    He appealed to the public to collaborate with the police to rid the society of criminals, as the police cannot do it alone.

    “This achievement was made possible with the cooperation of the public and our patrol teams spread across the state.

    “I assure you that our officers and men are working to reduce crime.”

    Agbonlahor said the Inspector-General, Ibrahim Idris, will soon bring the “bail is free’’ campaign to the state, as part of efforts to bring transparency and accountability to the force.

  • Niger: Police apprehend 22 suspects, recovers 415 cows

    Niger: Police apprehend 22 suspects, recovers 415 cows

    The police command in Niger says it arrested 22 suspected criminals, recovered 415 cows and seven cars in the state between July and September.

    Mr Austin Agbonlahor, the state Commissioner of police, made this known while giving account of his stewardship on Sunday in Minna.

    “It will interest you to know that from July 14 to September 2017 when I resumed duty in Niger state we have arrested 22 suspects which includes six cattle rustlers, five kidnappers and recovered 415 cows and seven cars,’’ he said.

    Agbonlahor said that the police also recovered exhibits such as two AK- 47 rifles and one locally-made pistol.

    He said that the cases of some of the suspects was pending in courts, some have been convicted while others are still under investigation.

    The commissioner appealed to the public to continue to collaborate with the police to rid the society of criminals as the police cannot do it alone.

    “This achievement was made possible with the cooperation of members of the public and our patrol teams spread across the state.

    “I want to reassure you that the personnel of this command are working hard in order to reduce crime to the barest minimum.”

    He added that the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Kpotum, would soon bring the “bail is free’’ campaign to the state as part of efforts to bring transparency and accountability to the force.

  • Enugu: Police investigates food poisoning

    Enugu: Police investigates food poisoning

    The Police Command in Enugu State says it has commenced investigation into the alleged poisoning of the food of a prominent man in a restaurant in Enugu, the state capital.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), for the command in the state, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, disclosed this in a statement he signed in Enugu on Sunday.

    Amaraizu, who is a Superintendent, said that the incident happened about 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 8. at the highly populated Akwuke axis of Enugu metropolis.

    “It was gathered that a man was allegedly served rice and stew at a popular restaurant in Akwuke, ‘’he said.

    Amaraizu said that it took the timely intervention of police operatives to quell the activities of the mob that besieged the restaurant, immediately after the incident.

    “This, however, would have resulted into loss of lives among others, if not for the timely intervention of police operatives.

    “The command, through its operatives, has commenced full scale investigation into an alleged food poisoning at Akwuke axis of Enugu metropolis in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State.’’

    According to the spokesperson, a man is suspected to have poisoned the said food.

  • Kano Clash: Kwankwasiyya are liars, says Kano Police

    Kano Clash: Kwankwasiyya are liars, says Kano Police

    Indications emerged on Friday that the police may soon parade the perpetrators of last Saturday’s breach of peace at the palace of Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi 11.
    The state Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Yusuf has inaugurated a powerful team of police detectives to unravel the immediate and remote cause of the fracas.
    The Nation recalls that last Saturday, during the traditional Hawan Daushe to mark the Eid-El-Kabir, at the Emir’s palace, the Kwankwassiyya faction of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in their thousands, converged at Hasiya Bayero Hospital, located opposite the Palace, with an alleged motive to disrupt the event, which was supposed to be graced by the state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, a situation resulting in a bloody clash.
    Speaking to reporters at the Bompai Police headquarters on Friday, the Command’s spokesman, DSP Magaji Musa Majia, said investigations into the fracas will soon be concluded, adding that police, “must bring the perpetrators to book.”
    According to him, “the Kano state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Rabiu Yusuf inaugurated a powerful team of police detectives headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Ahmed Muhammad Azare to immediately embark on painstaking investigation and find out the immediate and remote causes of the clash that occurred on the 2nd September, 2017.”
    He said the Team’s terms of reference include to: identify the victims, attackers, their sponsors, masterminds, as well as any action or inaction taken so far against the police, adding that those found culpable would be prosecuted.
    Reacting to press briefing credited to Kwankwasiyya Support Group, held in Abuja, on September 7 accusing the police of complicity in the matter, Majia described their claims as, “mischievous, malicious, callous and a demonstration of shame,” adding that, “their actions portray them as pathological liars.”
    Giving a graphic account of the incident, Majia said: “the fracas occurred during ‘HAWAN DAUSHE’ at Emir’s Palace, Kano, on the second day of Eid-El-Kabir, an occasion organized by the Emirate Council, purely traditional and not political.
    “During the occasion, District Heads (Hakimai) pay homage to His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano at ‘KOFAR KUDU.’ On that fateful day, the Kwankwasiyya faction of APC converged at Hasiya Bayero Hospital in thousands, with their supporters drawn from Sokoto, Kogi, and other neighbouring states and various Local Government Areas of Kano state with the ulterior motive to disrupt the occasion, which was not a political gathering.
    “They were chanting ‘Bamayi! Bamayi!! Bamayi!!!, meaning, ‘we are not in support, we are not in support, we are not in support.
    “This happened when the factional group (Kwankwasiyya), sighted the convoy of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kano state, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, OFR, approaching the venue of the occasion and suddenly started pelting the convoy.
    “However, with the deliberate cause of chaos, a clash ensued between the two APC factions. With quick intervention of the police, normalcy was restored. Some notable Kwankwasiyya’s ardent supporters were rescued from the ugly incident including former Commissioner in the past administration, Dr. Yunusa Adamu Dangwani, former SSG, Dr. Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, former Director Special Services, Alhaji Danyaro Yakasai, and escorted by the police to their respective residences safely.
    “However, it is quite disheartening that these same people that caused the pandemonium turned a leaf of shame against the police that saved their lives from being lynched. On no occasion that the Kwankwasiyya faction of APC sought for audience with the Commissioner of Police and their request was turned down, such assertion was nothing but an act of mischief.
    “The Kano Police Command is calling on all the good citizens of the state to remain calm, and equally assuring them that no amount of propaganda, intimidation, misrepresentation and total evasion of facts will deter the police Command from carrying out its constitutional duties of maintaining law and order.
    “The Nigeria Police will not allow any group or organization under whatsoever guise to disrupt the relative peace the citizens of Kano state are currently enjoying. The police Command is hereby issuing a stern warning to all miscreants under whosoever guise, that it will not fold its hands and watch thugs hatching ugly situation that may lead to mayhem in the entire state.
    “The Command, therefore, calls on the good people of the state to collaborate with the Police to unmask these miscreants and perpetrators of last Saturday are incident as they will be dealt with in accordance to the extant laws.”
  • Tensions in Togo rise as police break up anti-govt protests

    Tensions in Togo rise as police break up anti-govt protests

    Togolese authorities clashed with demonstrators in parts of Lome on Friday following two days of massive anti-government protests in the city.

    Police used teargas on Friday to disperse protesters, who had staged an overnight sit-in, and in Be, an area known as an opposition stronghold, there were skirmishes between police and residents throughout today.

    There was visible damage to some streets in the area and a notable police presence.

    In the rest of the cities life went on as usual, but the internet appeared to be blocked for the third day.

    “This morning, starting at about 6 a.m. the police proceeded to suppress the protests in Be because during the night people put barricades on the streets,” Jeff Gagba, from LTDH, a rights watchdog, said.

    Related: Togo: Gnassingbe must have exhausted his ideas – Obasanjo

    “So, there have been clashes, protesters launched rocks against the tear gas of the police, some people have been arrested,” he added.

    Gagba said that he was unsure if further protests were planned.

    Protesters in the West African nation have been calling for the resignation of long-time leader, Faure Gnassingbe, who has been ruling since 2005.

    Gnassingbe’s father led the former French colony for almost four decades beforehand.

    This week’s protesters complain of human rights abuses and want changes to the constitution to impose term limits.

  • Gunmen kill 20 in Plateau village

    Gunmen kill 20 in Plateau village

    No fewer than 20 persons were killed in a night attack by suspected gunmen at Ancha Village of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau.

    A resident of the area told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the attack took place in the late hours of Thursday.

    The source, who preferred anonymity, also told NAN that the attack left scores severely injured.

    The Spokesperson of the Plateau Police Command, ASP Terna Tyopev, confirmed the attack but could not give details.

    “Yes, we are aware of the attack, but we don’t have the details now.

    “We are on our way to the scene of the attack to get first hand information on the situation,” he said.

  • Breaking: Fleeing ritual suspect rearrested in Plateau

    Breaking: Fleeing ritual suspect rearrested in Plateau

    The ritual suspect, Ifeanyichukwu Maxwell Dike who escaped the custody of the Rivers state police command last month is said to have been rearrested by men of Plateau state police command.

    Dike was being held over the murder of 8-year-old Chikamso Victory in a part of Port Harcourt. He however beat police security and escaped on the night of August 20, 2017  when he was detained.
    The spokesman, of the state police command,  Nnamdi Omoni,  a Deputy Supretendent of Police (DSP),  broke the news to The Nation in Port Harcourt.
    Omoni said Dike was re-arrested last night and the police officers from  the state have gone to convey him back to Port Harcourt to face his charges.
    Dike,  a 200 Levels Physics  student of the University of Port Harcourt,  allegedly druged,  raped,  murdered and removed vital body parts of his victim Chikamso Victory,  at Eliozu area of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state,  August 19, 2017.
    He was paraded and subsequently detained at the cell of the state criminal investigation and intelligent department of the command where he escaped in the evening of August 20, 2017.
    He has been on the run since then,  until yesterday night when he was reportedly rearrested at the North Central part.
  • Police arrest three ritualists, 11 others in Ondo

    Police arrest three ritualists, 11 others in Ondo

    The Police in Ondo State have arrested three men for allegedly killing a student of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, for money ritual.

    The suspects are: 20 year-old barber, John Adenitire; 30-year-old herbalist, Abdulrafiu Tijani, and Alfa Jamiu Kilani.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Gbenga Adeyanju, disclosed this while presenting the suspects to newsmen in Akure on Thursday.

    Adeyanju said the suspects were arrested by a team of Special Anti-Robbery Squad dispatched to Ondo town following a tip-off.

    He said that the suspects were giving relevant information to the police on how they carried out the operation.

    Adeyanju, who said that the command had declared total war on criminals in the state, urged the people to always give adequate information to the police to enable them to rid the state of crime.

    Speaking to newsmen, Adenitire said that his job was to stay on the road to watch if anyone was coming, saying that he was promised N3 million by Tijani’s younger brother.

    “I was in my house when Tijani’s younger brother, Sile, came with his friend, and said that they needed a girl for money ritual and I told them that what they wanted to do was powerful and Sile said there was no problem.

    “On the second day, Sile and his friend came to my house when I was smoking Indian hemp at the back of our house and said we should go and look for a girl, and  I followed them.

    “On our way going, we saw a girl with school bag on her back; we took her to the bush where Sile and his friend killed the girl while they asked me to be watching if anybody was coming.

    “I don’t know what they took from the girl’s body that day but on the second day, I was told that they only cut her left breast and the left hand.

    “The two guys said that the person that sent them is a rich man and has promised them N10 million.

    “They promised to give me N3 million out of the money for the first operation while I was promised another big sum for the second operation but none of the money was given to me before I was arrested,” he said.

    Tijani said that he was promised N1 million to help them to take the breast and the hand to the person that wanted to use it for the ritual.

    “I am a herbalist and specialist on rheumatism and many other things but I don’t know how to do ritual money. I just helped Sile and Adenitire to take it to where they wanted to use it,” Tijani said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the police also presented 11 other suspects for various offences such as armed robbery, cultism, murder and unlawful possession of firearms.

    They also displayed a 64-year-old ex-convict driver, Ajibola Aliu (a.k.a Mokan) among the suspects, who had served a 21-year jail term and was granted amnesty at Ilesa Maximum Prison recently.

  • Clean up of police, a must

    SIR: One is not a Nigerian until one embraces a horrible encounter with the Nigerian Police Force.  The police appear to be littered with bad eggs and the government appears unable to clean up the Aegean Stables. This is not a subjective assessment for in a joint survey centred on corruption conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and United Nations, the Nigerian Police emerged as most corrupt institution in the land laced with unfettered impunity.

    Even the Auditor General of the Federation in his recent publication listed a litany of infractions by the police, ranging from looting of evidence lockers to the disappearance of guns and ammunition from armouries. One therefore wonders if the Nigerian Police is indeed a crime fighting organization.

    From mounting illegal checkpoints to forcing innocent party goers to illegally withdraw money from their ATMs, the Nigerian Police hardly brings endearment to the hearts of Nigerians.

    The chequered past of such police czars like Tafa Balogun and Sundaay Ehindero shows the Police has a history laced in corruption and crime. Even the slaying of the Apo-six adds to the narrative that police reform is a must.

    But alas a regime that pays lip service to corruption and lacks the balls to challenge the most corrupt institution in the land appears to be lacking solutions to this perennial problem.

    The solutions are legion but each has its advantages and disadvantages.

    The police can be disbanded immediately and a new Defence Force modelled after the Israeli Defence Force constituted. Young Nigerians unspoiled and uncorrupted should be charged to join the police. These youths should be offered university education alongside acquiring policing skills. Regular integrity tests should be conducted on them and those who fail should be weeded out. Banks have for decades utilized the integrity test to try their staff and this modality is totally alien to the police but alas when the top brass are alleged to be as rotten as a rotten egg, they lack the temerity to conduct such tests. Hence this should be outsourced to independent contractors.

    Wholesale retirements and dismissals maybe required to return sanity to the Force. Certain notorious units require closer scrutiny. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad and the Anti-Kidnappings Units appear to have attained the status of demigods in the manner they conduct their business. One needs to pray hard to avoid being an innocent fly caught in their web.

    Many a police station or barracks in the land is filthy and is no different from a pig sty.

    How does a nation expect the best out of the police when they are treated like pigs?

    Ramshackle dilapidated accommodations are the bane of the Police Force. Poor enumeration and benefits push many to graft. The lack of modern policing tools and training has made the Nigerian Police a brutal corrupt entity. One doubts that the Police have a fingerprint data base talk less of a DNA crime bank. Access to modern forensic tools has been denied the police by a regime more concerned with their own personal protection over revamping the Force.

    The Nigerian Police Force is not beyond redemption; what is lacking is the political will to steady the apple cart. This regime has an opportunity to lay down a legacy by making police reforms a priority but who will dare upset the apple cart so late in the game when 2018 is just round the corner and politicking for February 2019 General Election will begin in earnest?

    Police reforms are a must if Nigeria must move forward. To avoid and postpone taking care of this elephant in the room is a recipe for disaster, stagnation and national destruction. That is the plain truth and nothing but the truth.

     

    • Usman Mohammed,

    IBB Varsity, Lapai-Niger State.