The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police retirees appeal to PTAD over 11-year pension benefits

    Distressed police pensioners have appealed to the Director-General of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate  (PTAD),  Nellie Mayshack to pay their over 10 years pension benefits.

    The pensioners, numbering over 5000, are majorly soldiers from the Nigerian Army, who got seconded into the Nigeria Police Force.

    Sixty-year-old Inspector, Abu Ekundayo, said he has not been paid his retirement benefits eight years after serving the Nigeria Army and the Police Force for 27 years. He served last with the Lagos State Command, Ikeja, before his retirement on July 1, 2006.

    Ekundayo, who spoke with The Nation on behalf of some of his colleagues, said he was planning to go to PTAD office in Abuja.

    He said he was receiving salary regularly until he retired in 2006, adding that he and his colleagues had high hope that they would be paid after PTAD’s verification exercise carried out on police pensioners nationwide early this year.

    He stressed that following the verification  exercise, PTAD gave them certificate of participation, which included their account number, pensioner verification number, phone number and states.

    Ogundare, who said many of them are seriously sick, homeless and hungry, wondered why they have not been paid till now.

    He appealed to the PTAD and other relevant authorities to come to their aid.

    “I was receiving salary regularly until I retired in 2006 but I have not received my pension since I retired. I have been suffering and partially blind with no money to eat or go to hospital. I have been living a miserable life.

    “We are demobilised soldiers, who fought war between 1967 and 1970 before we were asked to join the Nigeria Police Force. We do not deserve this kind of treatment from the country that we have served,” he said.

    When asked why and when the police retirees would be paid their pension, Mayshack  said the PTAD has just made some payment into the police pensioners’ account.

    She said: “This is good timing. We have just paid this long suffering group, but the Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) payment system may take a day or so to deposit the payment into the bank account of the pensioners. But be rest assured that payment is on its way.

    “PTAD has worked extra hard to bring relief to this group of pensioners. We inherited them as a forgotten group, but we are glad that relief is finally here.”

    The Police Pension Department (PPD) was initially established by Decree 75 of 1993 as an Extra – Ministerial Department under the Ministry of Police Affairs. The  Department under PTAD now handles the payment of Gratuity and Pension of Police pensioners, who retired on or before 30th June, 2007, while the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) handles the payment of entitlements of Police personnel in the new contributory Pension Scheme through various Pension Fund Administrators.

    The administrative structure of the Police Pension Department is made up of both civilian and police personnel headed by a Commissioner of Police, who reports to the Director-General of PTAD.

  • Police to arrest unauthourised users of siren

    Police to arrest unauthourised users of siren

    The Nigeria Police Force said in Abuja on Tuesday that it would arrest any person not listed in the categories of persons authourised to use siren in the country.

    It would be recalled that the Federal Government had in 2012 listed the categories of persons entitled to use siren.

    They are; President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker, their deputies, state governors and service chiefs.

    Others are: the Inspector-General of Police, General Officers Commanding, Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIGs), Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs), as well as Commissioners of Police.

    The Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the police would rely on the government circular on use of siren.

    “We will still go by the Federal government circular in implementing the directive,“ Kolawole said.

    She said that the rate at which siren was being used in the country had reduced drastically because of the efforts of the police.

    Kolawole warned that the police would not hesitate to arrest any unauthourised persons found using the siren.

    “The police will not relent in their effort to carry out their duty,“ she said.

    She stressed that the police would always be on its guard to enforce law and order in the country.

    “I just want to let you know that this current police administration will not condone any act of public disorder, “ she said.

    She urged motorists not to pay money for permit for the use of vehicles with tinted glasses, as it was free.

    Kolawole said that the only authourity with the sole right to issue the permit were; the Inspector-General of Police and state commissioners of police.

    She advised motorists to take advantage of the whistle blowing platform opportunity to report to the police any personnel who demanded money from them.

    “We are saying that if people were paying before they should not do that any longer, “ she said.

     

  • Police to reactivate intelligence unit

    Police to reactivate intelligence unit

    The Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone Two, Bala Hassan, has said the police will revive the intelligence unit.

    He spoke yesterday while assuming duties at the headquarters in Lagos.

    Hassan, who was received by Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni, his Ogun State counterpart, Abdulmajid Ali, as well as other commissioners and senior officers in the zone, said the bureau would help in keeping criminal elements off the zone.

    He noted that aside the continuous collaboration with other security agencies, the police will ensure it generates all necessary intelligence to intercept people with questionable characters before they enter the zone.

    He said: “We are still partnering with other security services. We know that we cannot do it alone. We will partner with the Nigerian Army and the DSS. I will also visit the other military commands, the Nigerian Customs Service and Nigerian Immigration Service.

    “So that when we put our heads together, we will be able to make headway. As for allowing people of questionable characters to invade Lagos, we have the Zonal Intelligence Bureau. These units are replicated in the states as the State Intelligence Bureau.”

     

     

     

     

  • Police parade 12 robbery suspects

    Police parade 12 robbery suspects

    •Seven vehicles recovered

    The Oyo State Police Command yesterday paraded 12 robbery suspects and seven vehicles said to have been recovered from them.

    Police Commissioner Leye Oyebade vowed to drive criminals out of the state.

    He said three of the suspects, who allegedly terrorised motorists on the Igbeti-Kisi Road, were arrested at Okun village near Igbeti on August 25 when robbing Chief Rafiu Ojo and Fatunmbi, who were travelling from Ilorin to Kisi.

    The suspects confessed to the crime in an interview with reporters.

    One locally-made single-barrel gun, cutlasses and mobile phones belonging to their victims were recovered from them.

    The suspects are Abdullahi Muhammed, Abubakar Sheu and Baguba Majo.

    Also paraded were two robbery suspects, who are Fulani. The suspects – Alimi Aliyu and Sidi Marugobi – were arrested on September 2 after attacking a Fulani trader at Bagudu village near Ofiki, dispossessing him of a huge sum of money. A third member of the gang, simply identified as Ibrahim, is at large.

    A 27-year-old suspect, who specialised in snatching tricycles, Opeyemi Alagbe, was among those paraded. Alagbe, who told reporters that he dropped out of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State, in 2012, where he was studying an engineering course, vowed to shun robbery if pardoned.

    He said he dropped out of school for financial reasons, adding that he was riding a tricycle in Mowe, Ogun State, before he engaged in robbery.

    According to him, he got the gun recovered from him from a friend, whom he claimed, found it in his father’s home after his (friend’s father’s) death.

    Alagbe said it was his first time, promising never to return to it.

    Others paraded included suspected petroleum pipeline vandals. They were arrested on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway with two buses loaded with jerry-cans of petrol, at Bare village near Ajanla, Ibadan.

    Oyebade said the suspects would be prosecuted.

    He thanked the public for providing information and pledged that the command would keep the state safe for residents.

  • Suspected cultists kill 40- year old in Ondo

    Suspected cultists kill 40- year old in Ondo

    A 40-year old man has been reportedly killed by hoodlums suspected to be cultists in Ondo town.

    The incident, which has threw the ancient town of Ondo into mourning happened barely 24 hours after the new Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 11, Mrs. Kalafithe Adeyemi visited the town.

    Sources said the incident happened during the annual Ogun festival which was celebrated by traditionalists in Ondo and attended by people from across the state.

    It was learnt that some members of the “Eiye Confraternity” trailed the deceased from Okegbala area of the town to Fiwasaye Street, where he was macheted to death.

    Unconfirmed report hinted that the deceased was also a member of a notorious cult group in the town.

    The incident, which was reported at the Enuwa Police station, it was learnt caused pandemonium in the town as some youths protested against the killing.

    The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Enuwa Police Division Mr. Kunle Omisakin, who confirmed the incident, disclosed that one person has been arrested in connection with the incident.

    He gave the name of the suspect arrested by the Police as Seto Akinbobola.

    The DPO said the suspect was already assisting the Police in their investigations.

    He added that the suspect has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state Police command in Akure for further investigation.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the state Police command, Wole Ogodo also confirmed the incident.

    He said the matter would be properly investigated and the culprit will be made to face the wrath of the law.

  • ‘How police nabbed me with 27 phones’

    A 19-year-old man, Saliu Oladunni, has narrated how he was caught by the police with 27 phones burgled from a shop at Wole Ajeboriogbon Street, Sabo, Ikorodu, property of one Mrs Wasiu Omolabake.

    Oladunni, who was arraigned before an Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court in Lagos yesterday, told The Nation that he wasn’t part of the gang that stole the phones, but he helped the thieves to deliver them to phone sellers.

    He said: “I was taking my broken phone to a Mallam for repair when the guys asked me to take the 27 phones to the same Mallam.

    “The Mallam repairs and sells phones, but I didn’t know he was working for the police too. It was when the police came and arrested me there that I knew the phones were stolen,” Oladunni said.

    The Prosecutor, Corporal Mary Ajiteru, told the court that on August 31, Oladunni and several others at large at about 3:30am burgled Mrs Omolabake’s shop and made off with 44 different phones and accessories worth N180,000.

    When the three-count charge was read to him in Yoruba, Oladunni pleaded guilty to conspiracy and stealing punishable under Sections 409 and 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

    He denied the second charge of burglary.

    Magistrate O. O. Olatunji ordered the accused be remanded in prison and adjourned the matter till October 22.

  • Police arrest 20 in raid at Uwazuruike’s home

    Police arrest 20 in raid at Uwazuruike’s home

    The Imo State police command yesterday arrested 20 persons when it raided the home of the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.

    But Uwazuruike was not  arrested.

    When The Nation visited the compound in the new Owerri Area F, policemen prevented visitors from entering the compound.

    MASSOB’s Director of Information Mr. Chris Muocha said the whereabouts of the MASSOB leader was unknown.

    “Up till now, we don’t know the whereabouts of our leader. But we know that our members, including Uwazuruike’s personal security, were arrested and taken to zone 9 from where they will be taken to Abuja, but we don’t know if he was among them or if anything has happened to him.”

    He warned that the security agencies should not take the group’s peaceful disposition to mean cowardice.

    “We are warning the security agencies to leave MASSOB alone and concentrate on fighting Boko Haram because no person or group has the monopoly of violence.

    “We will not continue to watch while our unarmed members are brutalised. We need our own republic, the Republic of Biafra, and no amount of intimidation or harassment will stop us,” Muocha said.

    Confirming the incident, police spokesman Mr. Andrew Enwerem said the raid was not unconnected to the group’s activities.

    He said police’ presence in Uwazuruike’s premises and other flashpoints in the state were to check a possible breakdown of law and order, adding that there was no express order to arrest Uwazuruike.

    “The Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, has declared total annihilation of criminal elements and the raid is in line with that directive. You will also notice an increase in police patrol across the state,” Enwerem said.

  • Fashola to Nigerians: Remember police during festivities

    Fashola to Nigerians: Remember police during festivities

    Christmas, Ramadam and other festive days are times that Nigerians should remember the Police and share gifts with them.

    Former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said by so doing, Nigerians would be playing a role in encouraging good governance.

    Speaking on the topic: “The Nigerian Political Class and the Citizens Quest for Good Governance” at the 16th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture, Thursday at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Fashola used the analogy of giving to the police to illustrate how participation in community life is part of duties of citizens as contained in Section 24A-F of the 1999 constitution.

    He said: “How many of you have ever gone to the police station around you during Christmas? Just once a year you say, ‘look we have biscuit in the house; we just brought some for you.’ How many of you kill ram during Ramadam and send one small piece to the police? It won’t feed them. It is not the size of the gift. It is the gesture of concern and remembrance.

    “You see in movies, policemen stop at a coffee bar and the owner will tell them, ‘this is on the house’, go. He is connecting with his community. Do you think they will rob that coffee bar and those policemen would not do anything to save that man? It is a two-way traffic. Everybody points a finger at policemen but Nigeria Police represent us. That is what we are. If we show love, they will reciprocate.

    “There will scarcely be a dozen without one bad egg. I have worked with those men and women and I know the risk they take so that you and I can sleep. Go and sit at the back of your house at night and see how many minutes you will survive the mosquito before they drive you inside. But they do this every night, everyday.”

    But comedian and compere for the event, TEE A, made a joke out of the suggestion turning out bad for those who would attempt to practice it, leaving the audience in stitches.

    “This one is the funniest of the things he said we should do. If you go to the police to give them rice, they will tell you to write a statement and delay you for hours and you’ll be regretting why you did it,” he said.

    Three other ingredients Fashola said were necessary for good governance are: education (public enlightenment), rule of law, and application of science.

    The lecture was organised to commemorate the 70th birthday anniversary of Bishop Mike Okonkwo, the presiding bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).

    Commenting on the lecture, Bishop Okonkwo expressed confidence that Nigeria would overcome her problems once corruption was taken care of.

    “One thing that has killed people more than Boko Haram, more than religious crisis is corruption.  I believe that if that area is a little bit addressed, we will have the Nigeria of our dreams very soon,” he said.

    Dignitaries at the event included Prof George Obiozor, chairman of the occasion; Mrs Peace Okonkwo, wife of the celebrator; Bishop David Oyedepo, and many other men of God.

  • Police smash highway robbers in Kano

    Police smash highway robbers in Kano

    The Kano State Police Command yesterday burst a highway robbery gang which terrorised travellers on the Kano-Zaria and Kano-Maiduguri expressways.

    The police arrested two members of the gangs while six others escaped.

    The police said they were trailing the fleeing members.

    Parading the suspects yesterday in Kano, police spokesman Musa Magaji Majiya, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), told reporters that the gang members usually wore army and police camouflage and used sophisticated weapons.

    The spokesman said the suspects barricaded the Kano-Zaria expressway and robbed travellers.

    According to him, they snatched $14,900 and a Honda Accord car valued at N1.8 million and two iphones’ valued at N340,000 from a motorist.

    Majiya said immediately the police were informed, they began to trail the suspects.

    The spokesman said on sighting the police, they fled, abandoning the car.

    He said one of the suspects was arrested on the spot and named the other members of the four-man gang.

    The suspects reportedly had three rifles and disrupted traffic flow on the expressway.

    The police added that in a recent operation, the suspects snatched three Volkswagen Golf cars and one Toyota Corolla car.

    Also, Majiya said a member of another four-man gang was arrested, while three others fled.

    The spokesman said the gang used military camouflage to attack motorists on the highway.

    He said the robbers snatched a Golf car and N40,000 belonging to the owner.

    Magaji said when the police were alerted, they chased the robbers and engaged them in a gun battle.

    The police spokesman said one of the robbers was shot in the leg and arrested, while the others fled into the bush.

    He said items recovered from them include two long guns, one locally-made pistol, eight cartridges, two pairs of military uniform and the stolen Golf car.

  • Police yet to begin recruitment

    The Police Service Commission yesterday warned Nigerians interested in joining the Police Force to be patient as it is yet to begin recruitment.
    This is in line with a pronouncement made last month by President Muhammadu Buhari that the Nigeria Police Force will recruit 10,000 men to assist in internal security.
    In a statement by the Head of Press and Public Relations of the Commission, Ikechukwu Ani urged Nigerians to beware of fraudsters and scammers who will want to take advantage of the pronouncement to dupe unsuspecting would- be applicants.
    The commission noted that it will not charge fees for forms when the exercise begins and advised prospective applicants to exercise patience and wait for the formal commencement of the exercise.
    According to the statement credited to the Commission’s Chairman, Mike Okiro: “The commission has not started the recruitment exercise and no application form for recruitment has been released.
    “The Commission and the Nigeria Police Force are currently working out the details, and when completed; we will publicise the commencement of the recruitment exercise in line with the requirements of the law”.
    Okiro, however stated that the Police will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute anybody caught selling Police recruitment forms or collecting money from intending applicants in the pretext of helping them to get employed.