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Tag: Police

  • ‘Police asked me to bring N1.2 million or rot in prison’

    ‘Police asked me to bring N1.2 million or rot in prison’

    A victim of police abuse in Rivers State, Chima Okoye, is in court demanding N100m for illegal detention. Court documents show the rot in the policing system and established that Okoye was wrongly accused and detained, reports  PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA, Port Harcourt

    Chima Okoye, a taxi driver and a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the Abubakar Tafawa Belewa University, Bauchi, Bauchi State, was arraigned by the Rivers State Police command before the Magistrate’s Court sitting in Port Harcourt on June 24, last year for alleged murder.  He was later freed by the court after the prosecution claimed the family of the deceased had forgiven him. Before then, his family had coughed out monetary bribe.

    A charge sheet prepared by the Rivers State Police Command reads: “That you Okoye Chima Emmanuel ‘M’ 36 years on the 11th day of February, 2015 Olu-Obasanjo Road in Port Harcourt Magisterial District did unlawfully killed one Omorogbe Anthony by hitting him with a motor jack on his head which caused his death and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 319 (1) of the criminal Code cap, 37, vol 11 laws of Rivers state of Nigeria.”

    Okoye insisted that he never killed Omorogbe. “We only had an argument,” he said.

    He added that he was the one who reported Omorogbe to the police only for him to be detained. Omorogbe was allowed to go home, he said.

    Okoye alleged that police changed the charge against him after he told them that he was going to sue and expose them for using bad boys to extort money from commercial drivers.

    “I was arrested by the police because I refused to give the area boys who were working for the police officers’ bribe,” he said.

    A copy of the court order from Magistrate’s Court of Rivers State dated August 18, last year before his Magistrate U.V. Erekosima of the Senior Magistrate’s Court 10,  gave directive for the accused to be released from prison custody.

    In that suit, Inspector Asoluka Chiedozie was the prosecutor. B.C. Obi was the lawyer to the suspect before he was dropped after the suspect accused him of conniving with the police to defraud his family of N550, 000.

    Magistrate Erekosima said: “This matter is for the consideration of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) advice.  I have received the advice dated the 12th of August, 2015 received by the court on the August 17, 2015. The advice has reference No. MJ/DPP/236/VO1. XLXX11/403 and was written by Adiele Omereji, State counsel, for the Director of Public Prosecutions

    ”The brief facts of the case, as per the findings of the writer are that, there was a fight between the suspect and the deceased over carrying of passenger that  both the suspect and the deceased were taken to the police station and that the family of the deceased has sworn to an affidavit for the withdrawal of the case. That DPP opines, inter alia, that the charges against the suspect be dropped and the suspect be released from prison custody. Following the DPP’s advice, it is hereby ordered that the accused person be released from prison custody. This charge is hereby struck out from the court’s case list.”

    After regaining his freedom, Okoye dragged some officers to the High Court.  They include: Mr. Harrison Akpoguma (former Divisional Police Officer) and Inspector Charles Oliseh.

    On March 24, Justice R.I Ahiakwo of the Rivers State High court declared that the suspect was illegally accused of the crime he did not commit.

    The judge also condemned his detention for over six months in prison and the extortion of N150,000 and another N550,00 to secure his release.

    The Judge noted that the suspect was threatened by the police with fresh  arrest should he be sighted anywhere within Rivers State, adding that the continued seizure of his Toyota Corolla car with registration number AN 925 NSH is not only illegal but constitutes a violation of the applicant’s fundamental rights.

    Okoye,  who is  claiming  damages of N100 million,  said: “ I used my car to run part-time taxi in the early hour of the morning and in the evenings at the close of my daily engagements. On the 11th of February, 2015 at Olu-Obasanjo Road at about 6:45 am where I stopped to pick a passenger only to be disrupted by two touts who came to extort me and I decided not to yield to their demand.

    ”They molested me and damaged my windscreen. One of them ran away while the other tout was held back by the help of a passenger who accompanied us to Olu-Obasanjo Police Station and left. I entered a complaint against the tout who claimed to be Anthony Omoregbe to be charged for assault and malicious damage of my property.

    “Instead of the police to detain the tout, one  Inspector Oliseh  who earlier told me that Omoregbe is working for them began to praise him for doing a good job and told me that he charged the matter as ‘two fighting’ and detained the two of us. After four hours or more, Anthony Omoregbe was taken out on bail, but I was left in the cell. At about 5: pm, I was brought out from the cell to call someone to take me out on bail which I declined on account of being the complainant. The IPO (Inspector Oliseh) told me that he would place a charge on me and I would find it difficult to extricate myself if I dared them.

    “Afterwards, he brought free bail bond which he asked me to sign, and I did . He asked me to go and come back the next day for my car without giving me reason. I demanded to see the DCO (Deborah) to inquire from her why the car was seized instead she walked me out of her office. I left the station at about 7:30pm. I had to put a call to one Barrister  Obi and he asked me to see him the next day. On my way to see Mr. Obi, I got a call from the police station with the GSM no 08186354544, telling me that the DCO asked me to come and carry my car.

    “For me, I have decided to forgive the officers which made me to return to the station by 3:30pm. As soon as I entered the station, Corporal Ugochukwu asked me to go and see the DPO. As soon as I entered the corridor, Corporal Ugochukwu barricaded the entrance behind me and accosted me to the D.P.O’s office and pushed me in. Inside the office, there were four persons, which include the DPO; SP Harrison Akpoguma, DCO Deborah, Inspector Oliseh and  Corporal Ugochukwu. In the presence of these officers, the DPO allegedly accused me of killing the tout with my jack and he died on the previous day, that he died in the hospital. I replied: ‘how can a man  I brought to the station, who you allowed to go scout free be described as a dead man?’ Then I told him that I needed an autopsy to ascertain the cause of his death.

    ”The DPO replied me by saying that instead of me crying and being remorseful for killing somebody I was requesting for an autopsy. He ordered Inspector Oliseh and Corporal Ugochukwu to handcuff me and put me into the cell without knowing that I entered the cell with my phone. I then phoned some persons and sent text messages on my plight. Before the arrival of my lawyer, Corporal Ugochukwu came to the cell and told me that they searched my trouser pocket but could not see my phone. I replied him that I left it at home. He then asked me how would my people know that I was in detention. I told him to  get me a  pen and paper to put down the names and numbers they would like to contact.”

    Okoye went on: “At about 6:30 pm Corporal Ugochukwu came to the cell, and asked me to come out with the handcuffs on my hand. I asked him to allow me get something from the cell. I then brought my phone which I gave to him; he then began shouting. He went on to interrogate me on how I was able to beat their intelligence and entered the cell with the phone without them seeing it. He later put me into their Hilux van and zoomed
    off to the State CID. When we got there, Inspector Oliseh  told me that they did not want any case. He said the tout has three people in the university and two in secondary school under his care. That, I should call my people to bring N1.2 million to end the matter or I will rot in prison.”

    That was on February 12, last year, a day after Omorogbe allegedly died. He spurned their request and he was dumped in the cell. No statement was taken from him until the third day when he was shown a faked photograph depicting the tout as dead. Okoye again demanded for autopsy report and pleaded with them to charge the matter to court.

    ”When I communicated with my lawyer he told me that he went to the mortuary and saw the corpse of the said Anthony Omoregbe. The next day he came to the State CID and he told me that it was because of my inability to accept that I was guilty that I was still in detention. That I should know that court was not on session. At that point I decided not to be relating with my lawyer. Meanwhile the police removed my vehicle jack without my consent and made photograph of it and showed it to my people that I used the jack to kill the tout. One Sergeant Thomas also told my father that they were instructed to kill me since I killed somebody that they should hurry up and pay the N1.2million. I told my people to forget their antics; that it was a set-up.

    “My father told me that prior to that time of coming to the State CID, he was taken to a church at Ada George Road, Rumueme in Obio/Akpor Local government Area where grey-haired men and women who gathered in the church discussing on how to take the corpse to Delta State. I replied my father not to bother about anything that I would rely on the court to get my freedom and not to pay anybody.

    ”On the 50th day at the State CID, the then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Benjamin Wordu (now retired) visited  the cell where I was  and I alerted him that I was illegally detained. He asked me of my name, the name of my IPO and the charge against me. He immediately ordered one Inspector Oxford to take the details and that by Monday he would have audience with me. On the very Monday I was before the Deputy Commissioner in the presence of SP Rita Abbey Inoma and the Inspector Joseph. I narrated to them what happened but nothing was done as I expected.  Maybe because they realised that matter was against the police. That was how he ordered that I should return to the cell.”

    Obi, the victim’s former lawyer, told The Nation on phone that he was aware of the case but because he is one of the respondents in the suit  he would not like to speak.

    When this reporter visited Olu-Obasanjo Police Station, a source said all those involved had been transferred except Inspector Oliseh. While the reporter was discussing with a woman police officer, an officer entered the station and the woman police officer pointed at him and said: “This is Oliseh, you can speak with him”.

    The man responded: “Who you are? Why are you here? Why do want to see me?”

    “I am a journalist,” the reporter quietly replied.

    Before the reporter started discussing with Inspector Oliseh, he protested that as police officer he has no right to grant an interview. He also noted that he was aware of the court judgment, adding that whatever he did was under instruction. He then pleaded with the reporter to do a thorough job and be careful on the kind of investigations he does.

    Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer Omoni Nnamdi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP),  did not reply to our enquiries as at the time of going to press.

    Certainly, this is not the end of the matter. All eyes are on the court to resolve it.

  • Police and new Lagos traffic laws

    Governor Ambode has in a little over a year  justified the confidence reposed on him by Lagosians who during the last election, chose him over  JimiAgbaje, currently engaged in a public brawl with Bode George, his ‘father’ over PDP chairmanship. I believe he has also so far proved he is a worthy successor to his trail-blazing predecessors. Ambode remains a silent operator allowing his creativity and resourcefulness to shine through the quality of governance. Determined to outstrip the giant strides of his predecessors, his Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)projected target for 2017 is N30billion, a great leap from the paltry N600m Bola Tinubu inherited in 1999 and even the humongous N17b he inherited from Fashola, his immediate predecessor. The Nation’s Sam Omatseye describes him as ‘Nigeria’s alpha governor’ whose Lagos ‘is the only vibrant state in the federation’.

    Ambode understands insecurity is the greatest threat to a mega city. His administration therefore went ahead in February to inaugurate a new traffic laws and relevant punishments in an effort to build on the security architecture he inherited.  Speaking on behalf of the governor during its inauguration, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Atilade, the Chief Judge of Lagos State was specific on the targets of the government new crusade. “Those who choose to make life difficult for other people, especially on our roads; those who engage in flagrant disregard or violation of traffic rules with impunity; break traffic rules at will and cause needless traffic snag, drive against traffic and beat the traffic lights, destroy traffic furniture and infrastructure, drive across the road median and through their lawlessness and irresponsible actions, daily inflict pains, grieve and sorrow on fellow citizens.” These “few recalcitrant and obstinate drivers and road users who impede businesses, maim innocent people or send people to their early graves”, the administration swore to battle on behalf of Lagosians.

    Some of the new 11 laws and their attendant punishment include ‘One-Way’ driving which attract a penalty of three years; abandoning vehicle on highway which attracts a fine of N50,000 or three years imprisonment, or both; Motorcycle riding against traffic, smoking while driving, disobeying traffic control, riding motor cycle without crash helmet etc. each of which attracts a fine of N20,000. Many believe the fines are harsh and the intended objectives – whether deterrence or to raise revenues for the state – are nebulous and unattainable. But most Lagosians trust Ambode and therefore have no quarrel with government over the new crusadeto free the people from the menace of ill-bred motorists. It was in this spirit I had sarcastically advised a neighbour who complained two weeks back that his daughter was fleeced of N6,000 for driving with expired vehicle licence by some policemen in Ikeja, an offence outside the new traffic laws, that he and his daughter must learn to be good citizens by having their vehicle papers renewed as at when due.

    Little did I realize the joke was on me until I became a victim last Friday. I was flagged down by one Inspector who by her name tag is probably from Edo North at about 2.30 p.m, a few metres from Ikeja LGA secretariat. I enthusiastically handed over all my vehicle particulars even though she had demanded only for my drivers’ license believing everything was up to date. Moments later she said she was impounding my vehicle because my vehicle license expired few days earlier. Before I realized she was not joking, a police sergeant who by his name tag is of Benin extraction was inside my car ordering me to drive to their station next to Ikeja LGA office.

    At the station, I met about a dozen others engaged in an on-going negotiation anchored by a fair complexioned police woman. My offence, which is driving with expired vehicle licence, I was told, attracts a fine of N20,000 at the Alausa mobile court. Being a Friday, if I failed to come back by 4pm, my car would be impounded until Monday with a possibility of it attracting a demurrage fine of N10,000. I could save myself all the trouble with an option of paying a police fine of N5.000. I craved their indulgence to collect the amount from a nearby ATM machine. They obliged.

    With the illegal police fine collected in the presence of everyone by the sergeant, my impounded car was released. In less than 10 minutes and armed with my renewed vehicle licence obtained from the LGA office next to the police station, I returned and insisted on reporting the extortion to the DPO. As expected, I was told I could only seethe officer incharge of traffic offences.  After patiently listening to my tales, he said neither he nor the DPO sent anyone to collect money on their behalf. He admitted however that there are rotten eggs in the lower cadre of the police but quickly added they were laid by the matured chickens currently in charge of affairs of the police. He then wanted to know if my mission was to retrieve my N5,000.But remembering the great Zik’s admonition that it is only a mad man who argues with an armed Nigerian police, I told him my mission was to find out from the DPO what is being done to stop the extortion of Nigerians which was going on with impunity under his nose.

    Aswe stood talking beside one of the new vehicles procured by Lagos State with public fund to wage the new crusade, harmless members of the public were streaming in and out of the office where bargaining and haggling take place before extortion. In the little over 30 minutes I spent in Ikeja Police station, I did not see a single “danfo” bus driver, the notorious traffic offender among those arrested for traffic offences. Of course none of the accosted traffic offenders needed to go to Alausa to pay fine. Not even a woman who was tongue-lashed and dismissed as ‘ the archetypal troublesome Benin woman who always wants to prove she knows the law more than the police’, for insisting that the FRSC and VIOare the two bodies empowered by law to arrest those who drive with expired vehicle licences and not the police, was sent to Alausa. The woman later confessed she parted with N6,000 for her own double-barreled offence- driving with expired drivers’ licence and expired motor vehicle licence.

    The Ikeja encounter I have since learnt is what goes on in police stations across Lagos. To prevent the Nigeria Police, which as structured can be loyal to neither the nation-state nor its constituent units, drawing a wedge between him and the Lagos citizens, Ambode must excuse the police from the handling of traffic offences while he embarks on massive investment in LASTMA.  First, traffic is a local affair all over the world except in Nigeria where the federal government, blinded by a desire to control all aspects of our life forgets that the answer to some of our current challenges such as gathering intelligence about members of avengers, checking the menace of the so-called Fulani herdsmen or cattle rustlers and consolidating the gains we have made in the liberated north-east is local policing.

    By the time the federal government wakes up from its slumber and realizes that restructuring the bungling and ineffective Nigerian police is inevitable, Ambode’s investments on LASTMA would have started to yield dividends for Lagos State.

  • The police chief’s dilemma

    The police chief’s dilemma

    DO Nigerians still hold the contentious title of the world’s happiest people?

    I am not sure now, just as I wasn’t a few years ago when some researchers, apparently aware of our rare passion for vacuous recognitions, garlanded us with that disputable honour. It is, however, sure that we are a fastidious lot. We are hard to please as we find fault in any venture, no matter the nobility of its intentions and the dexterity of its delivery.

    If you doubt this assertion, ask police chief Ibrahim Kpotun Idris. Shortly after he was named the acting Inspector- General in June, Idris moved fast to consolidate his grip on the seat.

    Not a man of great eloquence, the police chief is no doubt a man of action. In his first major press conference, the former traffic officer accused his predecessor, Solomon Arase, of going away with a fleet of 24 vehicles, among them two exotic BMW 7 Series, one of which is   bullet proof. Idris lamented that he was left with an old car.

    Arase defended his integrity, saying he never went away with 24 cars as alleged by his successor. “What am I going to do with 24 cars? Do I want to open a car shop?” Arase asked angrily. He described the allegation as malicious and advised his successor to face the security situation in the land “rather than engage in media propaganda”.

    Poor Idris. He cut a pitiful picture of a guard hurled on harm’s way after his arms had been stolen while he was asleep. Not one to be easily deterred from pursuing any cause he considers noble and elevating, he refused to allow such a matter of national importance go away like a village market row between two overfed women. He raised a Special Investigation Panel (SIP) to probe the number of cars the police had bought in the last three years and who got them.

    So bad was the situation that Idris took his plight to the court of public opinion. He said: “The last time I followed the President with it he was asking me, ‘what are you doing with this old car’ because if you see the headlight, the thing has changed colour, which means they parked it and rains and everything had fallen on it, but the new ones that were bought, he (Arase) went with all of them; they are part of the 24.”

    Unknown to the IG, he had stirred up a hornet’s nest. Instead of sympathising with him and displaying the deep empathy such a grave situation deserves, those inconsiderate and implacable fellows who will never see anything good in any public official descended on him. What does he need a big car for? Does he need a BMW to pursue criminals? Should that be his first headache? What will he do if Arase decides not to surrender the cars? Was he appointed to ride cars?

    They were unsparing and scurrilous in their upbraiding of the police chief. It was as if he had committed murder, one of those despicable crimes he was hired to fight. Trust Idris, who had spent 17 years in the elite Mobile Force, the one referred to dreadfully as “Kill and go” on account of its extrajudicial actions. He took it all on the chin.

    But then he had become a marked police chief. Every step he took became a subject of unbridled attacks by those fellows, the armchair critics who hide under various shadowy nomenclatures, such as public affairs analyst, public commentator, security expert and other funny titles.

    Apparently reacting to the outcry over extrajudicial killings, Idris threatened to order psychiatric tests for his men. The rumour mongers, who never weighed the merit of the Acting IG’s logic – that no sane policeman will fire at innocent citizens – descended on him.

    They screamed: Is that the problem? When will this man get serious and know that policing is serious business and not a plate of salad washed down with a bottle of French wine? Will he lead the way? Shouldn’t such tests have been administered at the point of entry? Who will pay for the tests?

    Even some of those to be tested were said to have been deriding the idea, whispering: na test we go chop?

    Obviously mindful of being seen as impassive to reason, Idris is yet to carry out his threat – despite the risk of being scorned by an ever fickle public as a weak police chief who lacks the courage to implement his plans.

    Not done with hurling invectives at the IG, those unrepentant traducers of all patriotic public servants started to blame him for the negligible few policemen who guard civilians, especially our prized politicians and businessmen who, according to the critics, have turned the officers to errand boys. They claim that policemen still carry handbags for the wives and concubines of the rich and powerful. Is that true? Even if it is, how many do?

    Besides, they insist, as usual without  any iron-clad proof, that checkpoints remain with us despite the fact that they had been banned a long time ago. Haba. Let us be fair. Did Idris order the return of checkpoints? Why should he carry the can for that? Can any police chief be so ubiquitous as to see everything going on the land?

    Of all the allegations against the police chief, none has been as vociferous as those concerning the fellow who named his dog Buhari. The story is a familiar one. A trader, Joachim Iroko (no relation of the one who governs Ondo) Chinakwe, 40, named his dog Buhari, inscribed the name on the animal and walked it in an area with a large concentration of people of an ethnic group. The police grabbed him and threw him into detention.

    He had barely spent three days when a huge outcry broke out from the human rights community and ordinary Nigerians whose business is to mind other people’s business. The police would not be distracted  by the hullaballoo. They did a thorough investigation of this all-important and delicate case.

    They charged Citizen  Chinakwe with conduct likely to cause a breach of peace. For ease of reference, the charge: “That you, Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, and others still at large,on Saturday August 13, 2016, at about 5.30pm at the Ketere area, Sango in the Ota Magisterial District did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause breach of the peace, by writing a name, Buhari, on a dog and parading same in the Hausa section of Ketere Market, Sango, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 249 (d) of the Criminal Law of Ogun State, Nigeria, 2016.”

    Chief Magistrate B.J. Ojikutu admitted Chinakwe to bail in the sum of N50,000, which took his humble family a tortuous while to raise.

    Instead of praising the unusually speedy investigation of this seditious matter, the so-called critics jumped onto the train of the huge group of emergency animal rights activists that had sprouted like wild mushrooms in the wake of the matter. They lashed onto it to pound our Acting IG and his men. Besides, they tried to surreptitiously drag President Muhammadu Buhari into the fray by claiming that his was the Buhari inscribed on Chinakwe’s dog. Whatever happened to the respect we accord our leaders and their offices.

    Where are Chinakwe’s accomplices? Isn’t naming a pet an inalienable right of its owner? Are there limits to where a dog or any pet can be paraded? Where is the dog, the star exhibit in this case?

    Another police chief would have ordered Chinakwe flown to Abuja, hustled on by an army of  armed guards to prevent his accomplices – they are still at large, you know – from storming the airport to free him. In Abuja, he would have been bundled before a judge of controversial standing who would have banged his head with impossible bail terms, including a surety who must be a director at the Presidency and who must own property in Asokoro. The court, needless to say, would have sat under the tightest security our police chiefs could muster– mounted guards, Bomb Disposal Unit, Marine Police, Dog  Unit and all.

    Not Idris’ humane police. Chinakwe was simply brought before a discretionary  magistrate who gave him bail on liberal terms. The treasonable tension and canine conducts generated by the big dog issue died almost immediately. But, no thanks to the much discredited analysts, the police have got no kudos.

    Why are our people so difficult to please?

  • Police ‘ll be neutral during poll

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, has said tha the police will deploy enough personnel and equipment for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

    Idris spoke yesterday at a meeting with the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of the 12 zones across the country, as well as other senior officers.

    The I-G said: “We are coming up with a very, very strategic order. We are going to deploy the marine police in the waterways.

    “We are going to deploy our helicopters in the air for surveillance. We are re-enforcing the state with thousands of policemen.’’

    He said, 200 vehicles will be deployed to the state for the election.

    On the Ondo election, Idris noted the large number of contestants that would participate in the APC primary, saying that it may pose some challenges.

    “We seem to have large number of contestants in Ondo State; I think the APC has about 23 contestants. That is the area we are seeing that we will have challenge,’’ he said.

    He, however, said he had directed the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the zone to be on ground on Friday to work with the Commissioner of Police in the state

    According to the inspector-general, this is to ensure peaceful APC primary in Ondo.

    He charged all personnel that would be involved in elections in those two states to be professional and operate within the code of conduct.

    “We want all our policemen that will be involved in these elections to be apolitical,’’ he added.

    Idris, however, commended policemen for their professional conduct during re-run elections recently conduct across the country and urged them to replicate that in subsequent elections.

    The I-G also reiterated the ban on road blocks, noting the re-emergency of the menace in parts of the country, especially the South-South and South-East zones.

    While maintaining that the ban remains, he directed commissioners of police and AIGs in those zones to set up team to monitor and remove all road blocks.

    Meanwhile, the I-G has presented cheques worth N192 million to next of kins of policemen who had died in line of duty.

  • Police probes alleged forgery by bank’s staff

    Police probes alleged forgery by bank’s staff

    The police are investigating an alleged forgery by some staff of an old generation bank, it was learnt Wednesday.

    The police received a petition that some documents tendered at the Federal High Court in Lagos to obtain an injunction to take over a tank farm belonging to an oil company over an alleged debt were forged.

    A warrant of arrest was issued by a Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse for the suspects who were accused of “criminal conspiracy and forgery”.

    The suspects were arrested by the police at the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) premises in Lagos during a meeting with the agency’s operatives in related case.

    They were taken to the Area A Police Station for questioning and were asked to sign an undertaking to report at Zone A police station in Abuja.

    It was learnt that the suspects were still being interrogated at the Force CID Zone 10, Abuja and may be charged to court soon.

     

  • RCCG lifts police with N2.5m

    RCCG lifts police with N2.5m

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Lagos Province 23, Prince of Peace Area 25, has raised its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative with a brand new block of offices, new concrete cell with detainees’ private toilet, a borehole and repainting of the Langbasa Police Station in Badore, Ajah, in Eti-Osa Local Government, Lagos.

    The renovation of the 57-year old Police Station, which cost over N2.5million, is a follow up to the church’s February, last year’s donation of  N2.2million storm-water drainage system in the area as a response to the outcry of the community, which had long suffered uncontrolled flooding with associated health and environmental consequences.

    Describing the police station project as another land mark CSR project of the church, the General Overseer, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, said the church will continue to use its CSR as a tool of helping mankind.

    Pastor Adeboye, represented by his Special Assistant (Missions), Pastor Brown Oyitso, at the opening of the new building, listed the CSR objectives of the church to include promotion of good corporate governance in the church’s neighbourhood, complementing government’s efforts on employment generation, evangelism, enhancing church growth, especially among the youth, promoting RCCG community relationship and development.

    The Pastor-in-Charge of Prince of Peace Area 25, Lagos Province 23, Folusho Koku, said the church’s efforts entailed the remodelling and reconstruction of the Langbasa Police Office Project that was initially designed for an office and car park to a modern block of three offices with conveniences in each office.

    He said: “We have helped to decongest the single detention cell by building an additional and extended concrete cell. The new cell has a toilet and the walls tiled. We have provided a new air conditioner for the DPO’s office in the new building and are providing five triple seater metal chairs taken from our inventor in the church. The church has also repainted the police station and cemented the floors of the internal frontage of the station. A professional organisation was engaged to avail the officers neat and fresh occupation of their new offices. Arrangement has also been made for tables and chairs to be delivered soon.”

    Expressing appreciation for the exemplary gesture, the Area Commander, Area ‘J’ Elemoro, ACP Kayode Samuel, who represented the Commissioner of Police and Divisional Police Officer, Langbasa Division, CSP Joy Agulanna, said the church’s gesture exemplified the Commissioner of Police’s insistence on very good community policing, which is germane to democratic policing strategy. ‘’This singular effort as expressed by the senior officers has spurred officers and men of the Division to be more proactive, effective and dedicated in the discharge of their duties, ‘’ he said.

     

  • Police arrest herdsman with AK-47 rifle, ammunition in Enugu

    Police arrest herdsman with AK-47 rifle, ammunition in Enugu

    The Enugu State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herdsman, Ibrahim Adamumale, for alleged possession of an AK-47 rifle.

    The suspect, who claimed to be an indigene of Nasarawa State, was also found with 24 rounds of live ammunition.

    Police spokesman Ebere Amaraizu confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday.

    He said the suspect, who claimed to live at Hausa quarters in 9th-Mile area and had some cows at Affa-Udi bush, was arrested on Sunday.

    Amaraizu said: “The suspect was nabbed by the combine efforts of the police and the members of the public from Affa-Udi community acting on a tip-off.

    “The suspect before he was nabbed had expended about six shots on the air to evade being nabbed.

    “Before now, the police and members of the public have gathered information about the suspect’s antecedents in relation to bearing of sophisticated weapon within Affa-Udi axis in Udi council area and its environs.”

    The police spokesman said the suspect was helping the police in their investigation to determine how he got the rifle.

    He said Police Commissioner Emmanuel Ojukwu had expressed delight at the effort of his men and the community, which led to the arrest of the suspect.

    He said: “The commissioner has reassured that he will continue to partner relevant stakeholders and sister security agencies for a safe, secure and peaceful Enugu State.”

     

  • Police arrest guard for ‘sexual assault’

    Police arrest guard for ‘sexual assault’

    The police have arrested a 24-year-old security man, Sylvester Ossai for alleged sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl.

    Ossai was arrested yesterday after the step-mother of the victim filed a complaint at the Victoria Island Police Station.

    It was learnt that the suspect, around 11:30pm on August 27, inappropriately touched the minor on her female organs.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP), said the victim has been sent for medical examination, adding that the case has been transferred to the Police Gender Unit for discreet investigation.

  • Police arrest Sergeant for killing driver

    Police arrest Sergeant for killing driver

    A police Sergeant, who allegedly killed a driver, Salua Fatai at Orile, Lagos, on Sunday has been arrested.

    It was gathered that the Sergeant identified simply as Isaac of the Special Protection Unit was arrested yesterday and detained at the division over the incident.

    Isaac was said to have fired a shot indiscriminately at Doyin Bus Stop, while trying to make way for his principal, a certain Temitope Omolayo.

    He was said to have been assigned as police escort to the occupant of a Toyota Land Cruiser jeep marked PF742SPY, which was heading to Ibadan.

    The Nation gathered that in a bid to disperse crowd from the road, the Sergeant fired a shot which hit and killed Fatai.

    It was learnt that the deceased who was the chairman of Coastal Drivers Association will be interred today.

    A source who hinted on the burial, said that the police have released his corpse, adding that the suspect has been moved to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Panti-Yaba.

    He added that other drivers in the union boycotted work yesterday to mourn their chairman, just as he urged the police to ensure the matter was not swept under carpet.

    Narrating how the incident occurred, he said: “He was on his way to his Oke-Afo residence with his friend Kehinde, after he checking his vehicle at the Federal Mass Transit bus station in Orile. While in the vehicle, he discovered there was traffic and they came down to know what was wrong. That was how the bullet hit him and he died.

    “The deceased’s wife was invited by the police and taken to Ikeja to see the man who shot her husband. The police have promised to investigate the matter thoroughly. Our chairman will be buried on Wednesday (today).”

  • Police nab three for ‘highway extortion’

    Police nab three for ‘highway extortion’

    Police operatives attached to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone II, Onikan have arrested three persons who allegedly engage in illegal revenue collection and extortion.

    The suspects, Ajala Kabiru, Olasunkanmi Popoola and Kazeem Hassan were arrested around Berger on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Saturday following petitions from commercial motorists on their activities.

    It was gathered that transport unions petitioned the zonal command, lamenting the illegal toll charged by the suspects who pretended to be officials of government.

    In response to the petitions, the zone was said to have directed its Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (ZCIID) to investigate and arrest the culprits.

    Confirming the arrest, the spokesman for the zonal command, Muyiwa Adejobi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said his boss, AIG Abdulmajid Ali wants government revenue agencies to provide their agents with a means of identification to assist security operatives.

    “AIG Ali has challenged government revenue agencies/agents and departments to always issue marks of identification or personal identity cards to their staff or operatives for easy identification, so as to assist the police and other security operatives in the course of their duties of law enforcement and maintenance of law and order.

    “He assures the public of thorough cleansing of the zonal command and provision of adequate security of life and property for all and sundry. He urges members of the public to reach him on his mobile line, 08055885544, whenever the need arise,” said Adejobi.