The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • QUOTE OF THE DAY

    QUOTE OF THE DAY

    “With the latest drama in the Rivers State House of Assembly, the PDP is at it again. The ruling party has inflicted yet another mortal injury on Nigeria’s democracy. As the House reconvened after a recent adjournment due to a police failure to provide adequate security to this legislative body, thugs hired by sinister forces allied to the powers in Abuja were unleashed on the unsuspecting majority in the State Assembly. While the House was to consider a necessary budgetary matter, a cell of five legislators, making a mockery of their title as lawmakers, had plotted anarchy in their own chamber. They engineered this coup against the very body in which they serve.

    This group of five and their sponsors attacked the other 27 members and the deputy governor who was making a presentation on a budgetary matter pending before the House. All this occurred under the watchful eye, but idle hand of the police officers deployed to guard the chamber.

    We can say the police in Rivers became an accomplice to an illegal attack on the very government and constitution they pledged to uphold. This was a shameful moment but even worse, it is a likely foretaste of the partisan role the police will take in coming elections.”

     

    Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on The Rivers State House of Assembly Crisis.

  • Police killings: ‘IG must deal with culprits’

    Police killings: ‘IG must deal with culprits’

    Elder statesman, Chief Deji Fasuan, has urged the Inspector General of Police (IG), Muhammed Abubakar, to be fair in the treatment of men of the force who were alleged to have committed extra-judicial killings across the country.

    Fasuan spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, in reaction to the spate of unresolved killings in the state and elsewhere in the country, insisting that the IG must deal with culprits who he referred to as “bad eggs in the force” with “every sense of discipline, forthrightness, and justice for which he is known.”

    Fasuan added, “Police officers who perpetrate this heinous acts should be apprehended and dealt with according to the law. Such people should not be protected under any guise. In recent times, the police have been doing a good job in the sense that their men who kill wantonly are made to face the law but there are still cases even in Ekiti here where offenders are shielded from the law. And this is wrong.”

    The former Federal Commissioner of the Revenue Commission, who noted that the IG had “done commendably well since he assumed office,” added, “his performance going by the recurring experiences of accidental discharges and consequent killings of innocent people in the country still leaves much to be desired.”

    Chief Fasuan, however, explained that the judiciary must share in the the blame, noting, “If there are such cases that go on unresolved, you cannot lay the entire blame on the police alone. Lawyers at the bar and the bench also play a part in this.”

  • Army arrests ‘police robbery gang’

    The army’s 4th Brigade has arrested a robbery gang made up of policemen, allegedly led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police simply identified as Okubopagha.

    It said Okubopagha and another suspect, Okoro, were of the B Department, Nigeria Police Force, Bayelsa State Command.

    Commander of the 4 Brigade Pat Akem, who spoke through the spokesperson, Capt Roseline Managbe, said this followed the arrest of a man, Nanagha Aduoumemi, who claimed to be an inspector in the A Department of the Bayelsa State Command.

    Capt Managbe said Aduoumemi was arrested by troops of the 222 Battalion at Orhoror junction on Bomadi Road in Delta State after blocking the road with woods while other members of the gang hid in the bush.

    She said the suspect was arrested while attempting to run into the bush while other members of the gang escaped into the creeks.

    She said: “The suspect revealed that members of his gang are all serving police officers who indulge in robbery after their normal police duties.”

    In an interview, Aduoumemi said he joined the Force in 1982 and that it was his first time of joining the gang for an operation.

    He said his family was in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, and that he only got N5,000 from the operation.

    His words: “I am 60 years old. I am a police officer. I was arrested in Bomadi because I joined a robbery gang. This was the first day I joined them. They blocked the road and started operating. I was not in uniform but others were in uniform. I only know the ASP serving with me in Bayelsa. We were six in number.

    “I was introduced by the ASP. The ASP phoned me to come to Bomadi and when I got there, he said we should start the roadblock work. They were armed with police rifles. We robbed only two vehicles. I don’t know how much was made.”

    The Army also paraded a dismissed soldier, Adebayo Opeyemi, who was arrested for alleged robbery.

    Other suspects paraded included a 65-year-old pastor, Christopher Okonkwo, arrested for illegal oil bunkering.

    Capt Managbe said 1,500 drums of illegally refined diesel were destroyed in Warri and a Mercedez Benz truck loaded with 32 drums of illegally refined diesel were intercepted.

    Five persons- Joel Ogbu, Jenkins Ebrusike, Julius Erere, Jonathan Umukoro and Mine Best- were paraded for alleged kidnapping.

    Capt Managbe said the suspects would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

  • Panic as police fire teargas into Rivers Govt House

    Panic as police fire teargas into Rivers Govt House

    Rivers State moved closer to anarchy yesterday, with the police firing teargas into the Government House.

    Besides, soldiers were withdrawn from the state’s security service – in a yet to be explained development.

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s supporters massed at the House of Assembly early in the morning. The police told them to leave.

    “In a bid to disperse them, there was stampede. Many ran into the Government House and the police kept firing teargas into the place, even as they attempted to arrest people,” a witness said.

    But Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar said it was not true that his men fired teargas into the Government House. He promised to investigate the matter.

    Also yesterday, the police sealed off indefinitely the House of Assembly, saying it is to prevent the breakdown of law and order.

    Workers were ordered to return home, in view of the deepening crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Soldiers and policemen also prevented the five anti-Amaechi lawmakers – Michael Okechukwu Chinda (Obio/Akpor II constituency), Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma), Evans Bapakaye Bipi (Ogu/Bolo), Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I) and Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III) – from sitting from 8 am yesterday, as planned.

    As early as 6 am, Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s supporters took over the main gate of the Assembly, but were not allowed into the complex by riot and regular policemen.

    Some policemen in a Toyota Hilux van with public a address system, stopped on Moscow Road, directly in front of the Assembly complex pleading with Amaechi’s supporters to leave.

    The supporters, despite the heavy police presence, seized two anti-Amaechi men, beating them up. When they managed to escape, they took to their heels.

    A police inspector, whose name could not be confirmed because of the distance, at 8:40 am, announced at the parking lot of the Assembly complex that all the workers must leave immediately, following an “order from above”. They complied.

    When it became obvious that Amaechi’s supporters were not ready to leave the main gate of the Assembly, policemen started to fire tear gas canisters to disperse them. There was confusion.

    The Rivers Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Habila Joshak, led policemen into the Assembly complex at 9:01 am and ensured that nobody was allowed to stay in any of the offices or within the premises, with the main gate locked.

    Loyalists of the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, who mobilised to confront Amaechi’s supporters, were barred from moving near the House of Assembly, with the roads barricaded. Traffic was heavy in the area.

    Two police Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) marked NPF 4004 A and NPF 3451 A were joined by many Toyota Hilux vans, which had battle-ready policemen, to patrol the major roads and streets of Port Harcourt. Supporters of both camps were being chased, with tear gas canisters continually fired at them.

    The development paralysed business. Banks hurriedly closed for the day. The main gates of the nearly Rivers State Secretariat, Rivers High Court Complex and the Court of Appeal, as well as other offices and businesses were hurriedly shut. Workers left.

    Amaechi’s supporters eventually regrouped at the main gate of the Government House, where they clashed with Wike’s loyalists, who were advancing towards the House of Assembly. Soldiers, policemen and operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) prevented a bloodbath.

    There was a free-for-all at the main chambers of the Assembly on Tuesday, when an attempt was made by the five pro-Wike legislators to impeach the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree.

    A “new Speaker”, Evans Bipi, was quickly elected amid tight security and he announced the suspension of 15 unnamed lawmakers, in a 32-member Assembly.

    As Bipi mounted the speaker’s seat to give his acceptance/maiden speech, Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), stormed the main chambers of the Assembly with Amachree, other lawmakers and security men. Blows were exchanged.

    Also seriously injured were two anti-Amaechi lawmakers.

    Rivers deputy governor Tele Ikuru, was also attacked by thugs, while leaving the Assembly complex, after presenting amendments to 2013 N490 billion budget. His official car badly damaged.

    In spite of the tension, 23 of the 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers later sat presided over by Amachree, adjourned indefinitely.

  • 195 police officers to face panel

    195 police officers to face panel

    No fewer than 195 senior police officers are facing a disciplinary panel for various acts of misconduct, it was announced yesterday.

    Among the officers are four Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs); 17 Commissioners of Police (CPs); two Deputy Commissioners of Police; six Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs); and 166 others of the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and above.

    The affected officers are to face the Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC) chaired by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of ‘A’ Department, Suleiman Fakai.

    Fakai, who briefed reporters at the Force Headquarters shortly before the committee’s sitting yesterday, said all the affected officers had been queried by the various superior authorities at various times within the past three months.

    According to him, any of the officers found culpable would be handed disciplinary actions ranging from dismissal, prosecution, demotion, reprimand and warning to advice, depending on the degree of their offences.

    Any of the officers found without blemish will be exonerated.

    Fakai did not release the names of the affected officers, neither did he specify their offences.

    The panel will be sitting from Monday through Friday, between 10am and 6pm. A report containing the recommendations of the committee would be forwarded to the Police Service Commission for action.

    Speaking on the activities of the FDC, the police chief said his committee inherited over 3000 cases in January 2013 and that all the cases had been dispensed with.

    Some of the officers found culpable in that batch were handed various disciplinary actions ranging from dismissal, prosecution and demotion to reprimand and warning.

    The committee chairman corrected the impression among members of the public that only junior officers of the rank and file are punished for acts of misconduct.

    He said: “The Force Disciplinary Committee essentially serves to review disciplinary matters involving senior officers from the rank of ASP and above who may have erred in the course of their duties and make recommendations to the Police Service Commission.

    “This is in line with extant provisions and Force policy guiding discipline geared towards upholding professionalism, respect for rule of law and observance of human rights among senior police officers in the performance of their duties”.

  • Subsidy protests: Court grants killer DPO bail

    Subsidy protests: Court grants killer DPO bail

    Justice Olabisi Akinlade of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on Thursday granted bail to the dismissed Divisional Police Officer of Pen Cinema, Agege Police Station, Mr. Segun Fabunmi .

    Fabunmi was arraigned before Justice Akinlade for the alleged killing of a protester Adedamola Daramola, during protests against fuel subsidy removal in January 2012.

    The judge granted bail to Fabunmi in the sum of N250 million with two sureties in like sum.

    Granting the defendant’s bail application, Justice Akinlade held that Fabunmi would be in need of special medical attention which he may not get in prison if denied bail.

    She held in her ruling that a medical report issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, which disclosed that the defendant was suffering from renal (kidney) failure, was sufficient to grant him bail.

    She remarked that the defendant has provided sufficient material upon which his bail application could be considered.

    “What is important in granting bail is for a defendant to place sufficient materials before the court for it to exercise its discretion in his favour.

    “It is when a defendant has done that this that the burden of proof will shift to the prosecution, who will have to show cause on why the defendant should not be granted bail,” she said.

     

     

  • Amaechi threatens to stop funding police

    Amaechi threatens to stop funding police

    •’Police chief must go’

    To stem the gradual return to insecurity in Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi yesterday restated his demand for Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar to redeploy Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu.

    Amaechi spoke when he received a delegation of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Governing Board, led by its chair, Chief Gordon Bozimo, at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    He also threatened to stop funding the police, should the IG fail to remove the commissioner.

    Bozimo was worried about last week’s kidnap of three Youth Corps members in the state.

    He said: “Three days ago, three of our ‘corpers’ were kidnapped. I feel very worried because, if Port Harcourt is not safe, I don’t know where people will run to. So, we are imploring Your Excellency to look at the problems critically and fashion out what we can do to nip the problem in the bud. If not, ‘corpers’ may begin to avoid Rivers State the way they did to Borno, Yobe and other trouble-ridden states in the North. I have the intention of discussing it with the Inspector General of Police when I get to Abuja.”

    Amaechi said the call for Mbu’s transfer became necessary because the commissioner had derailed from his legitimate function of protecting lives and property.

    Said the governor: “We used to have a wonderful security system with commissioners of police who understood their functions and knew what to do.

    “But since the Police in Abuja suddenly posted the person called Mbu Joseph Mbu, nothing has been working again.

    “Mbu has been sitting with politicians for political reasons and the security system is down and out. Since he came, we have never had peace. We have held Security Council meetings two or three times. But before Mbu came, we used to hold security meetings two or three times every month. We knew where our Youth Corps were and we know the level of security arrangement we put in place to protect them. We also sent the SSS to watch over them. We have equipment that monitors what happens there. The only way they will not kidnap youth corps members is to send Joseph Mbu back to where he came from and post us a commissioner of police that will serve the interest of this state.”

    He urged the NYSC Board to unravel the issues surrounding the kidnap of the three Youth Corps members to the Federal Government and the implications it would have on the state, pointing out that his administration would soon stop funding the police for its inability to protect the lives and property of citizens.

    Said Amaechi: “I don’t want a commissioner of police that will work for me. I want a commissioner of police that will work for the interest of the state; that will work for Rivers people. So, it is not only me that you should complain to; talk to Inspector-General of Police and those who transferred the commissioner of Police that was working in the interest of Rivers people.

    “Port Harcourt is becoming unsafe and more NYSC members may be kidnapped, except they remove Joseph Mbu. It will worsen when we (the state government) stop funding the Police, because we will soon stop funding them.”

    Amaechi warned that Mbu’s continued stay in the state would jeopardise the conducive business climate of Port Harcourt and the fast growing economy.

    “The Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu is a politician, because he attends political meetings with those who brought him to our state and there is no way you can stop that. The only way you can stop that is to ask the politicians in Abuja to withdraw their Commissioner of Police and allow us to secure Rivers State. My fear is that his stay in Rivers State is intended to kill the conducive business climate in Port Harcourt and the fast growing economy of our state.”

    Amaechi accused Mbu of disrespect, insubordination to constituted authority, arrogance and gross misconduct to the government and people.

    He said: “The Federal Government should post a new Commissioner of Police. I have no control over the present Commissioner of Police Mbu, even though the constitution says so. He called a press conference, where he said, he does not report to the governor of the state, who is the Chief Security Officer of the State. So, how do I (Amaechi) protect our citizens?”

    Police Spokesperson Angela Agabe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police defended her boss, saying Mbu is not a politician, but a professional police officer.

    She maintained that the CP had been doing everything possible to reduce the crime rate.

    When asked to react to Amaechi’s declaration that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, should as a matter of urgency transfer Mbu out of the state, Mrs Agabe said: “No comment. Rt. Hon. Amaechi is the governor of the state.”

    She reiterated that no society is crime free, noting that officers and men of the command are putting in their best to ensure the protection of life and property.

    The police spokesperson said: “It is not true that since CP Mbu was transferred (from Oyo State in March this year) to Rivers State, there has been an upsurge in insecurity and criminal activities, including kidnapping.”

    Mrs. Agabe urged the public to give information about criminals to the police, promising that their identities would be well protected.

     

  • Controversy trails detention of IYC aspirant

    •He confessed, says police

    •Suspect: I was under duress

    • ’Arrest has nothing to do with ambition’

     

    Controversy has continued to trail the police detention of a presidential aspirant in the elections of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Nenghi Ikiba.

    Commissioner of Police Tonye Ebitibituwa said in Yenagoa that Ikiba confessed to being a leader and founder of a notorious cult group, Icelander.

    But Ikiba, who was paraded before reporters, insisted that he was forced by the police to admit the claim.

    The suspect also maintained that he was being held by the police for his refusal to step down from the IYC race to pave the way for a perceived government candidate.

    Ebitibituwa, said the gravity of the offence committed by Ikiba was the reason the police failed to obey the order of the Federal High Court.

    Justice Lambo Akanbi ordered the police to either arraign the suspect within 48 hours or release him unconditionally. The order expired last Thursday.

    Following the expiration of the directive, the suspect’s lawyer, Ayei Okpa, filed a contempt charge against the respondents, including the police.

    But Ebitibituwa said: “It is not in our character in the Bayelsa State Police Command to flout any court order.

    “The police and the judiciary have a robust relationship which cannot be broken.

    “In compliance with the court directive, the police initiated the process for his arraignment in court by filing information which has been served on the suspect since June 27.

    “The nature and gravity of the alleged crime by the suspect is such that he cannot be arraigned within the time frame, except going through the process of first filing information, which has been done.

    “The suspect, Nengi Ikhiba, confessed to be a notorious cult leader/founder of Icelander with Ateke Tom, the late Soboma George and Julius Benson.

    “The police should not be dragged unnecessarily into any face-off with the judiciary.”

    The police boss, however, admitted that Ikiba had renounced cultism but said he failed to follow the procedure laid down by the law.

    But Ikhiba said: “I am not a cultist. It is because of the IYC election that I’m being held. They asked me to come and step down for their candidate.

    “I was invited to come to the police and I came. They mounted pressure on me. I was asked to make the statements at gun point and out of fear and pressure I made the statement. They even threatened to kill me.”

    Governor Seriake Dickson commended the police for arresting Ikiba.

    He said his arrest and detention had nothing to do with his IYC aspiration.

    Dickson said his declaration of war against cultism and other related vices had begun to yield dividend.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Bayelsa police defy court order on suspect

    The police in Bayelsa State had ignored the order of a Federal High Court directing them to either arraign a suspect in their custody, Mr. Nenghi Ikiba, or release him unconditionally.

    Ikiba, a presidential aspirant in the forthcoming elections of the Ijaw National Congress (IYC) has been in police custody since June 19.

    The aspirant who is described as a political prisoner by his lawyer, Mr. Ayei Okpa, is allegedly held by the police for refusing to step down from the race to pave way for a government candidate.

    But the court had on June 24 derided the police for overstepping their bounds while ruling on a motion exparte brought before it by Okpa.

    The court presided over by Justice Lambo Akanbi ordered the police to either arraign the suspect within 48 hours or release him unconditionally.

    Akanbi in a copy of the ruling obtained by our correspondent on Sunday said:

    “An order is hereby made directing the respondents to arraign the applicant before any court of competent jurisdiction for any offence the respondents believe the applicant may have committed within 48 hours, that is on or before Thursday the 27th day of June 2013.

    “If the applicant is not arraigned before any court for prosecution, he shall be released on bail unconditionally by the respondents.

    “The respondents shall caution themselves of the consequences of disobeying the tenor of the order of the court.”

    The respondents are the Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police, SCID, IPO Goodway, Col. Kenebai and the government of Bayelsa State.

    But our correspondent observed that despite the clarity of the order, the police had refused to abide by it.

    All efforts by Okpa and supporters of Ikiba including a former senator to prevail on the police to obey the court’s directive have proved abortive.

     

  • Police arraign 21 over market crisis

    The police in Lagos yesterday arraigned 21 suspected miscreants, who allegedly fought themselves and others with dangerous weapons while sharing the money they collected from markets.

    The accused appeared before an Ogudu Chief Magistrates’ Court on a four-count charge of breach of peace, assault, causing damages and using charms.

    The Prosecutor, Cpl. Adekemi Adeniran, told the court that they committed the offences on June 21 between 4.00pm and 7.00 pm at the Ketu and Ikosi markets in Lagos State.

    “The accused were fighting over money collected at the two markets. They resorted to using dangerous weapons such as cutlasses, hoes, bottles and charms to assault themselves and innocent people,” Adeniran said.

    She said that the value of property destroyed by the accused was yet to be ascertained.

    The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Sections 45, 171, 166 and 248 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The accused, all resident in Ketu and Ikosi, however, pleaded not guilty.

    Chief Magistrate Omolade Awope granted each of them bail in the sum of N50,000 with a surety in like sum and ordered that the sureties must provide evidence of two-year tax payment to the state. The case was adjourned till July 17 for mention. NAN.