The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • FCT police arrest six robbery suspects

    FCT police arrest six robbery suspects

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command said it had arrested six robbery suspects who specialised in attacking and robbing people of cell phones and money.

    The Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Anjuguri Manzah, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

    Manzah said that the suspects were arrested in separate operations in Mabushi, Nyanya and Wuye divisions by operatives of the command.

    He said that the suspects would be charged to court on completion of investigation

    He said that the FCT Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, had directed all Divisional Police Officers and Area Commanders in the territory to ensure adequate security during the Yuletide.

    The Police Spokesman called on residents of the territory to assist the police by volunteering useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals.

    “Residents of the territory should help the police by reporting suspicious movements in their neighbourhood, “ he said.

    It would be recalled that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, had directed Command Commissioners of Police to personally ensure adequate security during the Yuletide.

  • Police rescue four Kidnapped victims in Edo

    Police rescue four Kidnapped victims in Edo

    Edo State Police Command Tuesday rescued four kidnapped victims.

    They were rescued in the early hours of of Tuesday in a forest near Utekon in Ovia South East local government area of the state.

    The victims were traveling to Lagos from Benin City.

    The four victims are Sadiq Sarumi, Osayande Douglas,Gabriel Otaru and Pastor Martins Duru.

    The victims, according to Police, were travelling in a Toyota Signal space bus before they were accosted near Ovia River on Benin/Lagos road around 5pm on Monday by some suspected gun men.

    The armed men were said to have shot sporadically into the air to scare the travellers.

    A situation which prompted the driver of the space bus to abandon the car and ran into the bush.

  • Yuletide: Don’t expose yourself to rape, police warn women

    The Ogun Police Command have warned women especially young girls to apply caution while seeking fun during the yuletide, saying rape cases may soar higher in the state during the festive period.

    The spokesman of the Ogun Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, told The Nation that with the approach of yuletide, there is the possibility that rapists would want exploit the mood of the season to lure unsuspecting fun – seeking ladies and girls to where they could be raped.

    Adejobi advised ladies to avoid hanging out with strangers or pass through unfamiliar or dark pathways by night during the yuletide.

    He also cautioned them against wearing revealing attires when going out, consumption of beer or wine  and  going out with new acquaintances as that could exposed them to the risk of sexual assault by persons with inclinations for gang rape during the yuletide.

    Meanwhile, the command has appointed Chief Superintendent of Police(CSP) Gbenga Megbope as the new head of the Special Anti Robbery Squad in the state.

    In a statement, Adejobi said the appointment of Megbope was to engender better policing of Ogun state.

  • Police await report on Ariaria killing

    Abia State Police Command is waiting for reports from ballisticians to conclude investigations into the killing of innocent shoemakers at Ariaria International Market, Aba by officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    The dead have been buried, but the police said they were yet to conclude investigations in the matter. They are waiting for the result of bullet specialists to determine the particular security agency using the bullet(s) used in the shootings.

    NDLEA officials arrested in connection with the shootings have been granted bail, pending the outcome of a full investigation into the matter.

    Sources that preferred not to be named revealed that a comprehensive investigation into the killings had become necessary as there were complications over the government agency that was authorised to use the type of bullet recovered from the Ariaria shooting scene.

    Investigations revealed that though traders accused NDLEA officials of the alleged shooting of their colleagues, the Abia State Commander of NDLEA, Dele Akingbade, would not agree with the traders’ accusation, leading to a comprehensive investigation to determine whether the bullets belonged to NDLEA, police or army who were called in to quell the situation.

    Abia State Police Public Relations Officer Ezekiel Udeviotu Onyeke, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said: “The bullets found at the scene of the incident have been forwarded to Ballisticians in Lagos for examination and proper analyses but we are yet to get their report.

    “We are waiting for their report which will bring the investigation to a logical conclusion and determine the next line of action.”

    According to him, the Abia State NDLEA Commander, Mr. Akingbade took all of them on bond, adding that the body of one of the victims has also been released to his people for burial.

     

  • ‘N29bn recovered Police pension fund in FG coffer’

    ‘N29bn recovered Police pension fund in FG coffer’

    The N29 billion recovered from the Police pension fund has been returned back to Government’s coffer, the House Committee on Police Affairs was told Tuesday.

    The Director-General of Pension Transition Administrative Directorate (PTAD), Nellie Mayshak, made the revelation while speaking at an interactive session with the Hon. Haliru Jika – headed House committee.

    According to her, though the police pension was adequately funded by previous administrations, the previous police pension managers misappropriated the excessive fund through inclusion of ghost pensioners.

    She however noted that the agency which was saddled with the responsibility of handling old pension scheme of various federal agencies, civil service, parastatals including police during the last nationwide verification exercise for the police,

    She said about 2,800 ghost pensioners were discovered out of the 18,000 officers on the pension payroll, and that of the additional 16,000 names of pensioners not captured in the pension scheme submitted to PTAD, only 3,128 appeared during the verification exercise.

    While giving a further breakdown, she said civil service pensioners were 105,000 while 13,000 pensioners were from Customs, Immigration and Prisons.

    The PTAD Director- General said the issue of fraud in the pension administration is a bygone, adding that a report of authentic federal pensioners would be submitted to National Assembly and other relevant authorities.

    Fraud, Mayshak said, was the major challenge confronting the pension scheme.

    Interior Minister, Abdulrahman Dambazzu, revealed that the report on the merger of the Ministry of Interior and Police Affairs has been passed to the Head of Service of the Federation for onward transmission to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    Lawmakers, while reacting to the Minister’s presentation, expressed concern over the delay in the payment of compensation to families of deceased police personnel as well as poor response to distress calls.

    They also expressed worry over extra-judicial killings and poor welfare of police personnel and their families.

    Mike Okiro, Police Service Commission (PSC) Chairman said for effective policing, the country requires about 425,000 policemen.

    His words: “With the current staff disposition of 286,901, additional 119,421 personnel is required.”

    According to him, there is an ongoing preparation for the recruitment of the 10,000 personnel announced by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The Commission, Okiro said, recruited 21,228 personnel between 2011 and 2012, while 21,353 personnel were lost to retirement, resignation, dismissal and death between 2010 and 2015.

  • IGP appoints new Deputy Force PRO

    IGP appoints new Deputy Force PRO

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Arase, has appointed Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Sogbeba West as the new Deputy Force Public Relations Officer.

    This is contained in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP Olabisi Kolawole, in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The statement said that West, who holds a diploma in Security Strategies, hails from Rivers.

    It said that West served in Enugu Command as a Personal Assistant to the then Commissioner of Police of the Command.

    He had also headed the Special Anti-robbery Squad, Enugu, as well as worked in Taraba Command.

    The statement said that West also served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions in Kosovo and East Timor.

    “His experience in policing has seen him through in Nasarawa, Rivers and Kogi Commands,“ it said.

    He replaces CSP Abayomi Shogunle who now heads the Crime Response Unit (CRU).

     

  • Police transfer suspected drug peddlers to NDLEA

    Police transfer suspected drug peddlers to NDLEA

    The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2 Command, Lagos, Mr Bala Hassan has transferred two suspects found with cannabis to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    The suspects were arrested with 863 compressed parcels of dried weeds that tested positive for cannabis weighing 781.5 kilogrammes believed to have been smuggled from Ghana by sea at Badagry.

    They were received by the Seme command of the Agency on behalf of the NDLEA.

    NDLEA commander at Seme Border Command, Mr Udotong Essien while receiving the suspects and exhibits, pledged to carry out further investigation.

    The commander gave the names of the suspects as Ismaila Aliyu, 26, a transporter and Edwin Igbokwe, 39, a labourer at Badagry jetty.

    Items recovered from them include: one speed boat powered by Yamaha engine; three Honda motorcycles and  N480,000 believed to be proceeds from drug business.

    Aliyu said he imported the cannabis from Ghana for the end-of-year sales.

    He said: “Most dealers now prefer imported cannabis from Ghana. This consignment was targeted at the end-of-year sales. As a transporter, I make more money from cannabis importation.

    “The cannabis would have been distributed to dealers in Lagos if not that we were arrested. I have two wives and four children and I take care of them from the money I make from cannabis sales.”

    Igbokwe said his role was to carry the drugs from the boat to a vehicle that will convey them from the riverside to town.

     

  • Police cordon off INEC collation centre in Yenagoa 

    Police cordon off INEC collation centre in Yenagoa 

    • Collation to begin soon

    Armed security operatives especially mobile policemen have cordoned off the collation centre of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) located in the headquarters of Yenagoa Local Government Area.

    The dual carriageway leading to the centre was blocked from both sides with patrol vans. There were indications that final collation of results for the Saturday governorship election would soon begin.

  • Police investigate hawker’s death in FCT

    Police investigate hawker’s death in FCT

    The FCT Police Command said it had commenced investigation into the death of a teenage hawker in the territory.

    The FCT Police Commissioner, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

    It would be recalled that a teenage hawker lost his life on Nov. 13 after scaling a bridge around Bolingo Hotel, Abuja, while allegedly evading arrest by officials of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB).

    Inalegwu said that some arrests had been made and investigation was ongoing.

    “We are investigating that case, we have made arrest and we are trying to narrow it down to whoever is responsible for that.

    “We are investigating, that is all that I can say. We are very much aware of that case,” he said.

    Inalegwu said that officials of the board had been advised to be evenhanded while carrying out their duties.

    “We have told them to be evenhanded and told the management to deal with any staff that is overexcited,” he said.

    He also appealed to FCT residents to show understanding by obeying the law against hawking in the territory.

    “But we also appeal to FCT residents to show understanding by not engaging in street hawking.

    “If everybody is allowed to hawk on the street the traffic will not flow and we will begin to have traffic robbers.

    “Experience has shown that this hawkers metamorphosis at night to use same locations when you stop at traffic to rob you at night.

    The commissioner said that Abuja is a cosmopolitan city and the standard should not be so lowered as to encourage criminality.

    The management of the board had denied being responsible for the death of the hawker.

     

  • PSC okays conduct of policemen in Bayelsa election

    PSC okays conduct of policemen in Bayelsa election

    The Police Service Commission (PSC) has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of Policemen during the December 5 Bayelsa governorship election.

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

    It would be recalled that 19-Man monitoring team of the Commission led by a Retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Yakubu Muhammad, monitored the election.

    The statement said that Police Officers were courteous and ensured a sense of orderliness at the polling stations.

    It said that the PSC team visited 43 polling units in four of the eight local government areas in the state.

    The 43 polling units were drawn from the 27 towns/villages in the four local government areas visited.

    The statement said that there was an average of nine policemen per polling unit.

    It stated that in some of those polling units there were up 21 policemen in one polling unit.

    ” In Ogbia Local Government Area, there was an average of four policemen per polling unit, while an average of two policemen manned polling units in Sagbama and Kolokam/Opokuma local government areas, “it said