The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police arrest five for alleged gunrunning in Kafanchan

    The Kaduna State Police Command has arrested five suspected manufacturers of arms at Karoik village, near Kafanchan, in Jema’a Local Government Area.

    Police spokesman Zubairu Abubakar told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna that the five suspects were members of an 11-member gang accused of manufacturing and selling guns to criminals.

    He said five of their collaborators were apprehended on July 31 while the gang leader was still at large.

    Abubakar said: “Two locally-made AK-47 rifles, two pistols, one sub-machine gun (SMG), parts of locally-made AK-47, a drilling machine and materials for gun fabrication as well as several rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the first five suspects arrested in July.”

    The spokesman said the suspects were arrested at the village on August 28, following a tip-off.

    He said: “The suspects were in possession of a Barreta pistol and five live ammunition.”

    The police spokesman said a robbery suspect, believed to be terrorising Kidanda and Bango villages in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area, was also arrested.

    “The suspect was arrested while in possession of a stolen motorcycle and clothing materials reportedly robbed from their owners,” he added.

    Abubakar said the suspects would soon be arraigned.

     

  • Police cut governors’ security detail

    Police cut governors’ security detail

    Governors have lost a chunk of their security detail as a result of the reorganisation of the functions of police officers and men.

    Police security attached to the governors has been reduced to a maximum of 62 men – which is a unit – according to Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase.

    Hitherto some governors had 150 policemen to secure them.

    Arase, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend, said the police were worried that too many of their officers and men were doing jobs other than their core police duties, yet they were being promoted.

    “When these people now have to be deployed from these special assignments back to their core duties, they may have lost touch,” he said.

    According to him, that was behind the decision to withdrawal security from unauthorised persons who use police orderlies for personal aggrandisement rather than as a result of a real threat to their lives. Such people, he said, should find other ways to secure themselves.

    He denied that policemen working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were recalled to undermine the anti-corruption crusade of the government.

    According to him, policemen working in other agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), NAPTIP, ICPC and others, who had stayed more than five years, were recalled to be replaced with another set, if necessary.

    He said the EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Lamorde requested the retention of some of them because they were on special assignments, which, he said, he agreed to do.

    The Police Service Commission said last week that a special squad would be deployed on the highways and airports to stop policemen doing illegal guard duties.

    Arase said deployment of policemen for guard duties had ensured that of the about 305, 000 policemen engaged by the government, only about 150,000 were available for core duties.

    He added that 40,000 policemen across ranks were due to attend promotion courses which he would ensure as soon as funding is available.

    The recruitment of 10,000 policemen as announced by the Federal Government would have to wait till next year when there would be budget for it, Arase said adding that only the best hands would be recruited to ensuring that people of integrity are hired.

    He expressed his determination to build a data base crime investigation with the support of a $10millon grant from a foreign country.

    “I assure you that I will leave the police better than I met it at the end of my tenure next year,” he said.

  • Bayelsa: Police repels pirates attack on passenger boat

    Bayelsa: Police repels pirates attack on passenger boat

    The Bayelsa Police Command on Sunday said its Marine Division in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state had repelled an attack by sea pirates on a passenger boat in the area.

    Mr Asinim Butswat, an ASP and Spokesman of the Command, said in a statement that the attack occurred on Aug. 28 at Gina-Gbene area of Southern Ijaw.

    According to the Spokesman, an AK-47 Assault riffle and live ammunition were recovered from the pirates who abandoned their 75 Horse Power speedboat and fled into the creeks.

    Butswat assured that efforts were being intensified to arrest the fleeing pirates.

    “On Aug. 28, at about 0820 hrs, the Bayelsa State Marine Police, stationed at Koluama, in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, repelled some suspected sea pirates attacking a passenger boat around Gina-Gbene, in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    “The Pirates ran into a nearby Creek, abandoned their speed boat, mounted with 75HP Yamaha Engine, with the Inscription ‘DEEP SEA MARINE’.

    “One AK 47 riffle, three magazines loaded with four live ammunition, one bag, one Voter card and four life Jackets were recovered from the suspects.

    “The Marine Police are combing the creeks to arrest the culprits. Investigation is ongoing,” Butswat said.

  • Police redeploy 19 AIGs, 49 CPs

    Police redeploy 19 AIGs, 49 CPs

    The Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, yesterday approved the redeployment o?f 19 Assistant Inspectors General in various states.

    Arase also redeployed 49 ?Commissioners of Police.

    The posting, according to a statement from the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Abayomi Shogunle, followed the vacancies created from the recent retirement and promotion of senior police officers.

    The statement added that the former Force Public Relations Officers CP Emmanuel Ojukwu, had been redeployed to Kogi State as the Command’s CP.

    Also yesterday, the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, appointed Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Olabisi Alofe Kolawole, as the new Force Public Relations Officer.

    Kolawole becomes the first female police officer to be appointed as the spokesperson of the Police Force at federal level.

    The appointment, according to a statement from the Deputy Force Public Relations, CSP Abayomi Shogunle, is geared towards harnessing the potential of Nigerian ?female police officers.

    Kolawole, who holds a first degree in Law from Ogun State University and a Masters degree in Police Leadership and Management from the University of Leicester, United

    Kingdom, replaces CP Emmanuel Ojukwu who is now the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command.

    The new FPRO has served in various capacities at national and international levels. She was the Force Gender Adviser before her recent posting.

    The statement said that Arase also appointed Ag. ACP Idowu Owohunwa as Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the IGP.

    The new PSO, who holds a bachelors degree in International Studies from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria as well as a Masters degree in Criminal Justice and Policing from University of Leeds, United Kingdom, has served the Nigeria Police in diverse capacities, such as Staff Officer to the 2006 Alhaji Dan Madami-Chaired Presidential Committee on Nigeria Police Reforms and Divisional Crime Officer, National Assembly Complex Police Division, Abuja.

    He was pioneer head of the Intelligence Analysis Unit of the Force Intelligence Bureau.

    Ag. ACP Owohunwa takes over from CP Austin Iwar who is now the Commissioner of Police, Gombe State Command.

    Before his appointment as PSO, Owohunwa was the Personal Assistant (PA) to the current IGP.

  • Market killings: Police quiz nine NDLEA officials

    Market killings: Police quiz nine NDLEA officials

    The police in Abia State command have started interrogating nine staff of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency who were said to have been involved in the shootings at Ariaria International Market on July 31.

    The officers reportedly went to “Black Kingdom” (a popular drug market located around the Bakassi Shoe Plaza) to arrest a drug dealer.

    It was alleged that when the operation failed, the NDLEA men   started shooting in the market at the peak of business activities which resulted in the death of some shoemakers while over six others were injured.

    The Abia State Commander of the anti-drug agency, Mr. Dele Akingbade promised that the agency was going to cooperate with the police in their investigation on the matter, adding that they would also be looking at the type of the ammunition  retrieved from the deceased and injured persons on the fateful day in order to ascertain whether it was the one used by the agency or not.

    The Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ezekiel Onyeke Udeviotu confirmed that nine persons from NDLEA reported to be among the personnel of the drug law agency that went for the Ariaria operation were undergoing interrogation at the State Criminal Investigation Department.

    Udeviotu also said that Fire Arms Experts would be involved for analysis to ascertain the owners of ammunition that were used during the operation if the need arises, even as he expressed confidence that the panel investigating the incident were professionals who would to do a thorough job.

    “We can’t say that all of them were involved in the shooting. There so many issue surrounding the incident. It is not just the issue of people who went to work we equally have the issue of who shot and what made them to shoot. It is not something that we are going to do overnight. I don’t know the level of investigation and would not want to preempt the outcome of the investigation. Put I can confirm that they are in our custody and that they are helping us with the investigation.

    The caliber of the ammunition that were used will be determined by the people investigating the matter at the state CID and fire arm experts will be involved if the need be. But I must tell you that I am confident that the people doing the investigation will do a very good and thorough job. So, if the need to verify the type of ammunition arises, the fire arm experts will be involved in the matter” the PPRO stated.

    Meanwhile, traders at the Shoe Line where the incident happened have expressed worries that the NDLEA officials involved in the mayhem were yet to be brought to book in order to serve as a determent to others and however, advised the agency to ensure that they organized training courses for their officers on gun handling in order to ensure that there won’t be a recurrence of such.

    According to one of them who gave his name as Chukwuma, “There is no amount of punishment given to them (NDLEA) staff that would be enough to pay for the death of the three persons that died that very day.

    “All we want is for the officers that were involved in the unfortunate incident to be brought to book. But let me also advice that the NDLEA should regularly send their officers to shooting training. They should be properly thought on how to handle gun and what to do even when they want to scare people away from mobbing them as they claim was the case that unfortunate incident happened.

    “How can trained personnel of the drug agency while wanting to allegedly scare away people bend down and started shooting sporadically? Is that what they (NDLEA) teach their personnel? I am not sure that that is the case, but if that is the case, I guess it was high they were restricted from using arms. It is untrained personnel that will behave the way the officers behaved.

    “This should not be swept under the carpet. Let the investigating officers at the Abia State Command do a thorough and professional job to ensure that justice was done in this matter”, he pleaded.

     

  • Gombe: Police smash fake recruitment syndicate

    Gombe: Police smash fake recruitment syndicate

    Gombe state Police Command has cracked a gang of three young men who fraudulently produce and sell fake Police recruitment forms in the state.

    The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Fwaje Atajiri in said the gang had been swindling innocent members of the public by selling the illegal forms to them at the rate of Five Hundred Naira (N500.00K).

    He said the suspects were Mohammed Bashir Ahmed, Musa Suleiman and Shamsudeen Usman Abubakar.

    The PPRO therefore advised members of the public, especially in Gombe to be wary of buying recruitment forms so they do not fall into the hands fraudsters and end up buying illegal forms.

    He said interested persons should wait for public announcement or advertisement of sales of forms from the police authority as it would always publicise recruitments and details of the process at the appropriate time.

    He said the Command is poised to deal decisively with criminal elements bent on soiling the good image of the Force.

     

  • Police commissioners for states, Abuja

    Police commissioners for states, Abuja

    The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the deployment of 37 Police Commissioners in State Commands and the Federal Capital Territory.

    One of the affected officers is the Force spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, who has been deployed to Kogi state.

    1. Habila (Abia State); Adejo Gabriel Adaji (Adamawa State); Muritala U. Mani (Akwa Ibom State); Karma Hosea (Anambra State); Mohammed K. Mohmmed (Bauchi State); P. Okafor (Bayelsa State); Dibai P. Yakadi (Benue State); J. Opadokun (Borno State) and Henry Fadairo (Cross River State).

    Others are Usman Bala Alkali (Delta State); P Abdallah (Ebonyi); Chris Ezike (Edo); Etop J. James (Ekiti); Mohammed Adamu (Enugu); Wilson Inalegwu (FCT); Austin Iwar (Gombe); T. Lakanu (Imo); U. Tilli Abubakar (Jigawa); U. U. Shehu (Kaduna); M. Katsina (Kano); U. Abdullahi (Katsina); Yakubu O. Jubrin (Kebbi); E. Amadasun (Kwara) F. Owoseni (Lagos); Mohammed Sani Usman (Nasarawa); Abubakar Marafa (Niger); Abdulmajid Ali (Ogun); M. Ogbodu (Ondo); K. Shodipo (Osun); Leye Oyebade (Oyo); Nasiru Oki (Plateau); Hyelasinda Kimo Musa (Rivers); Salisu F. Abdullahi (Sokoto); Okechukwu Nwodibo (Taraba); Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim (Yobe) and Femi Ogunbayode (Zamfara).

    In a statement yesterday by PSC’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, quoted the chairman of the PSC, Sir Mike Okiro to have said the deployment was aimed at reinvigorating the various state commands.

    The exercise, he added, is geared towards effective and efficient policing, in line with the change agenda of the present administration.

    He advised the state commissioners to take their jobs seriously and ensure that they are committed to the enforcement of law and order and protection of lives and property within the ambits of the rule of law.

  • Police launch 16 patrol vehicles in Kano

    Police launch 16 patrol vehicles in Kano

    Security in the commercial city of Kano has been tightened to prevent Boko Haram insurgency.

    Performing the launch of 16 mobile patrol security vehicles, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said they were meant to boost security.

    The vehicles were distributed by the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, to states, to enhance patrol on major highways.

    The governor said his administration was working with the leadership of the Joint Security Task Force (JSTF) to ensure that terrorists, who might flee from the Northeast, did not take refuge in any part of the state.

    He said local security outfits had been mobilised to assist the JSTF operatives and make the state uninhabitable for the insurgents who might be planning to relocate to the state.

    Ganduje hailed the security initiative adopted by President Muhammadu Buhari to end terrorism and urged Nigerians to support him.

    Presenting the vehicles to the governor, Police Commissioner Idris K. Ibrahim said they would be used to patrol the highways where military checkpoints had been dismantled.

  • Police arrest 27 cultists, robbery suspects in Ogun

    Police arrest 27 cultists, robbery suspects in Ogun

    The Police have arrested 27 persons suspected to members of notorious cult groups in Ogun state, following raids by operatives of the Police Command’s Special Anti Robbery Squad and Department of Criminal Investigation and Intelligence.

    The suspects until their arrest, the Police said, were involved in spates of killings and robberies in Ijebu, Agbara and other areas of the state.

    The suspects are; Ahmed Olasunkanmi (aka Ahmed the killer), Sadiq Muli,  Adewale Olumide (28) Rafiu Oluwatosin (27) and Ifeanyi Idor (27)

    The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olumuyiwa Adejobi said investigations have reveal that the suspected cultists participated in series of robbery attacks in the state, including snatching of cars within major cities and along highways.

    Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) gave the names of others as are Ifeanyi Okeke (34), Abiodun Taiwo (39), Ola Hammed (40) and Odion Ozasuwa (23) while 10 vehicles and eight guns and ammunitions of different calibres were recovered from them.

    In Agbara area of the state, the Police also arrested additional 14 suspected members of a  cult group while the duo of Idris Adejunwon (24) and Muideen Bello (26) were arrested in connection with the last August 5,  Ijoko Otta Killings.

    According to him, the Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, has ordered  the officers and men of the Command to step up measures to rid the state of cultists, robbers and hoodlums.

     

  • Police deploy team to enforce withdrawal of security from VIPs

    Police deploy team to enforce withdrawal of security from VIPs

    The police are set to implement the presidential directive on withdrawal of police orderlies from unauthorised persons.

    President Muhammadu Buhari gave the directive last week when he met with the Ministry of Police Affairs.

    A statement yesterday by the Police Service Commission (PSC) said Very Important Persons (VIPs) not entitled to police orderlies should look elsewhere for security cover.

    According to a statement by Head, Press and Public Relations of the Commission, Ikechukwu Ani, a high level monitoring team had been deployed at the airports, highways and other public places to enforce the directive.

    The statement quoted the Chairman of the commission, Mr Mike Okiro, as saying that the team had the powers to stop VIPs’ on the highways and airports to confirm their status.

    He said any erring VIP or policeman caught in such unauthorised beat would be prosecuted.

    Okiro said the commission and the leadership of the Police will enforce the presidential directive to the letter.

    He stressed that henceforth only authorised government officials and VIPs’ will be entitled to police security.

    Okiro noted that the nation could not be battling with inadequate Police personnel while majority of these scarce officers were in the service of few privileged Nigerians.

    “Nigeria Police will now be structured to do its primary duties of providing internal security and protecting lives and property,’’ Okiro said.

    He said that commission would give the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force the required support and encouragement to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.

    The chairman warned that the commission would not hesitate to discipline any police officer who flouts the presidential directive by hanging onto these VIPs’ for pecuniary gains. (NAN)