The Nation Newspaper

Tag: policemen

  • Survivor of attack on policemen regains freedom

    Survivor of attack on policemen regains freedom

    Not all the 12 policemen ambushed in Bayelsa State died, it emerged yesterday.

    Lucky Ebebi, 31, a bachelor from Esama, in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, has been freed by the militants.

    The charred remains of the 11 other ambushed policemen were retrieved on Tuesday from the creeks by a rescue team.

    As at press time last night, the bodies were still at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Security sources, who pleaded not to be named, said Ebebi met two expatriates – a Greek and an Indonesian – at the camp of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in the creek of Azuzuama, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    The sources said the hostages were released alongside Ebebi, after payment of the ransom.

    It was alleged that one of the freed expatriates later died as a result of the trauma he suffered at MEND’s camp.

    The source revealed that the policeman and expatriates were held at one of the numerous and highly-fortified camps of MEND in the creeks of Bayelsa.

    At the emergency ward of the FMC where Ebebi was treated, one of the health personnel on duty, who pleaded for anonymity, confirmed that the freed policeman was brought into the hospital.

    Police spokesman Alex Akhigbe, who confirmed the development in a telephone interview at 6:34pm yesterday, insisted that no ransom was paid.

    Akhigbe said: “The policeman who was held hostage by the militants has been released. He sustained gunshot injuries, but he is now in a stable condition.

    “He was released through negotiations, prayers, contacts. We did not pay any ransom before he was set free.

    “We do not have that kind of money. Where do you expect the Bayelsa Police Command to get N1 million to pay to militants as ransom?

    “The policeman met two civilians at the militants’ camp. The families of the expatriates were, as at Wednesday, discussing with the gunmen who kidnapped the two men how they would be released. As at today (yesterday), I do not have information about their release or on the death of one of them.”

    The released police corporal was reportedly admitted at the emergency ward of the FMC, where he was treated for gunshot wounds and discharged.

    A security source said: “The released policeman, after his treatment at the FMC, Yenagoa was discharged yesterday (Thursday) morning and he reported at the Bayelsa police headquarters in Yenagoa, where he was debriefed.”

    Ebebi’s elder brother, Victor, confirmed his release, expressing gratitude to God for sparing the life of the “jolly good fellow”.

    Victor expressed the optimism on Wednesday that his younger brother would later rejoin the family alive.

  • ‘Policemen’ shoot motorist dead in Lagos

    A motorist was shot dead in Lagos yesterday by some men on Police uniform.

    The incident occurred about 9a.m, around Daleko Bridge, Iyana-Isolo, a Lagos suburb.

    Passersby and onlookers ran for cover as gun shots rang out.

    When the dust settled, the motorist, who reportedly had an argument with the uniformed man, lay dead in a pool of his own blood.

    He was said to be driving a Toyota Highlander Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) before he was killed.

    An eye witness who simply identified himself as Kolade, said: “Like everyone around, I was scared stiff seeing some men in police uniforms rain bullets on an innocent man. The man’s killers were in police uniforms. We could only run for cover.

    “There was stampede in the area. Passersby and traders were running helter-skelter to avoid being hit by stray bullets.”

    Many believe that the assailants might be policemen chasing robbery suspects. But after the motorist was killed, residents of the area believed that they might be hired assassins or robbers.

    The state police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said last night that the Commander, Area ‘D’, Mushin, received a distress call that there was shooting around Daleko Bridge, Mushin, adding that some policemen were immediately dispatched to the area. On arrival, according to her, the gunmen had disappeared.

    Following enquiry, eye-witnesses told men of the Area ‘D’ that the gunmen who came in police uniforms operated in a commercial bus. The victim, Mr. Santos Korie, a foreigner, was said to have died on his way to the hospital.

    “It was not immediately ascertained whether the gunmen were hired killers in police uniform or genuine police officers.”

    The victim’s vehicle, it was learnt yesterday, was parked at the Daleko Police Station; the body has been deposited in a morgue.

    There were speculations last night that seven persons had been arrested in connection with the incident. They are reportedly being detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ikeja.

    Police Commissioner Umar Manko is said to have ordered that the gunmen be fished out since they are suspected to be policemen.

    Of recent, gunmen operating in military and police uniforms have been involved in such violent crimes.

    Manko appealed to the public, especially the victim’s family, to remain calm as the gunmen would be brought to book.

  • Soldiers, policemen clash in Ibadan

    There was pandemonium at the Mokola area of Ibadan on Thursday following a clash between some soldiers and policemen.

    Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) that residents of the area scampered for safety following the incident  which was said to have been caused by  the alleged assault of  a police woman.

    The spokesperson of the Oyo State Police Command, DSP  Olabisi Clet-Ilobanafor, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that a  police woman in mufti, was returning  home on Wednesday night when she was hit by two soldiers on a motorcycle.

    She said the policewoman protested and was allegedly assaulted by the soldiers.

    Three policemen, she said, came to her aid and invited the soldiers to the Mokola Police Station on hearing the officer’s distress call.

    She said one of the soldiers  drew out a jack knife and stabbed  two officers on the buttocks and legs.

    In the altercation that ensued, Clet-Ilobanafor said the soldier was injured by a bullet shell after a police officer fired a warning shot.

    She added that jack knives and drugs suspected to be Indian hemp  were found on the soldiers while the  wounded police officers were taken to the hospital.

    The police spokesman also said some soldiers visited the Mokola Divisional Police Station to attack police officers on duty.

    “They destroyed cars, smashed windows and injured some people and officers of the police force.

    “They were armed with hammers, jack knives, but had no guns with them.

    “The police said their men were restrained from shooting while the timely intervention of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Clement Adoda, restored peace in the area.

    “One of the soldiers was arrested and the DCP has communicated with the military authorities.

    “ The injured soldier is to be handed over to his superiors,’’ she said.

    When NAN  contacted the Army Public Relations Officer in Ibadan, Lt.-Col. Mohammed   Anka, he said some officers had  been deployed to the scene to  verify the identity  of the  soldiers involved.

    “We sent our men to confirm if the soldiers are our men or some other persons  in our uniform.

    “You know we have to be objective in all we are doing.

    “Our General Officer Commanding, 2  Division, Maj-Gen. Ahmed Jubril, has zero tolerance for indiscipline.

    “He has ordered that if any of our officers was found guilty, he or she should be dealt with,’’ he said

  • Murdered policemen: Jonathan’s Borno words return to haunt him

    Murdered policemen: Jonathan’s Borno words return to haunt him

    On Saturday, a boatload of policemen ran into an ambush along the creeks of Azuzama in Southern Ijaw local government area, Bayelsa State, leading to the death of 12 security agents. They had been deployed in the area for security purpose during the burial ceremony of the mother of an ex-militant, Kile Selky Torughedi, a.k.a. Young Shall Grow. The killings coincided with the warning issued by members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to resume attacks in the region following the conviction and jailing of their former leader, Henry Okah. In the warning, MEND had said: “…A series of attacks, codenamed Hurricane Exodus, will begin at midnight on Friday. (The attacks) will be a direct repercussion of a forged threat letter contrived by the Nigerian and South African governments purporting to have originated from MEND… We are now determined to conjure this imaginary trumped-up threat into a painful reality. The attacks will be sustained until an unreserved apology is offered to MEND and the Nigerian government shows its willingness to dialogue, the same way they are willing to dialogue with Boko Haram.”

    But in contemptuously dismissing the MEND threat, the Nigerian military had immediately offered this explanation: “The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has an outfit on the ground in the Niger Delta. Our structures are on ground in the area. They (MEND) should not reverse the hand of peace; nobody should threaten the peace in the area. The JTF is on the ground and is prepared to do their duties in defence of every interest of the nation. Anybody trying to threaten the peace in the area is advised against it.” The police also weighed in with a terse statement. “The police will not respond to threats by criminal elements,” they said curtly, “but suffice it to say we are ready to curb any acts of lawlessness or criminality in the country.” However, notwithstanding the assurances of the police and the military, some 12 policemen were murdered barely moments after the security chiefs finished responding to the MEND threats.

    It is not the seeming impotence of the government’s assurance that has unsettled the public; the problem is that the responses by the two security agencies are agitating the people. For the military, it appears, it is still a matter of muscle flexing. “The five sectors of the JTF covering the nine states of the Niger Delta region are on the alert,” its spokesman boasted. “Our maritime and air assets have also been mobilised and we have intensified our patrols to dominate both land and waterways to checkmate any assailant. We will not permit any lawlessness that will jeopardise the peace in the region.” Not to be outdone, the police, through the state police commissioner, Kingsley Omire, suggested that the killing of his men had nothing to do with MEND’s threat of last week. It was probably a misunderstanding over money matters within the former militant group led by Torughedi, who now works for the Bayelsa State government, and the ‘General’ Adaka Boro Jnr group, the police boss argued. But whatever the cause, the fact is that the killings have been carried out, and the noses of security agents have been rubbed in the dirt.

    President Goodluck Jonathan will now have to revisit the threat he also unwisely issued in March when he visited Borno and Yobe States. He had angrily told his audience that he had issued directives to his security agents of his unwillingness to hear that a security agent had been murdered by anyone, let alone militants of any colour. The presidential threat was widely interpreted to mean that security agents could use maximum and indiscriminate force to pacify restive regions, just like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo did to Odi town in the president’s home state of Bayelsa when some seven policemen were murdered by militants. It remains to be seen what Jonathan will do to his home state now that 12 policemen have been murdered by militants, a classic case of the president’s words returning to haunt him.

     

  • Robbers kill two policemen in Lagos bank raid

    Robbers kill two policemen in Lagos bank raid

    Two policemen were allegedly killed by robbers yesterday in a dawn raid of a new-generation bank in Ifako, a Lagos suburb.

    One of the slain policemen was simply identified as Inspector Nafiu.

    The hoodlums, numbering about 16, were said to have gained access into the bank by scaling the fence which separates it and a Conoil fuel filling station. They came in two vehicles.

    Some of them laid ambush for the policemen outside the bank, while others attempted to break into the bank.

    Sources said the robbers tied all the security men on duty while attempting to break into the banking hall.

    When they could not break into the hall, they tried to dismantle the bank’s ATM machine with an equipment.

    Sources said it was in the process that some policemen from Area ‘G’ Command, Ogba, on routine patrol, stumbled on them.

    On sighting the policemen, the robbers opened fire, killing one of them instantly and injuring another.

    The police fought back, leading to the killing of another policeman. Four of the robbers were reportedly injured.

    Residents said they took cover in their homes to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

    Two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and some policemen from the Area ‘G’ Command, moved to the scene, but the robbers had fled, leaving the slain.

    Lagos command spokesperson Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), however, said only one policeman was killed.

    The injured policeman, she said, was in hospital.

    Braide, who said a gas cylinder and some drilling equipment were recovered, advised the public and hospitals in Lagos to alert the police if anybody with bullet wounds comes to them.

  • Two policemen to be hanged for extra-judicial killing

    Two policemen to be hanged for extra-judicial killing

    Two policemen, Ameh Richard and Akinyede Olaiya, are to die by hanging.

    Justice Abiodun Adesodun of an Ado-Ekiti High Court yesterday found them guilty of killing Kehinde Faluyi and Michael Ipinlaye, on 23 March, 2011, over a disagreement on the defacement of posters in Omuo Ekiti, Ekiti State.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Adesodun held that there were discrepancies in the evidence of the accused.

    The judge affirmed that the contradictions “vitiated their evidence”.

    He said the confessional statements of the accused during police interrogation and their oral testimonies during cross-examination in court were contradictory.

    Justice Adesodun also said the evidence by the prosecution counsel, Messrs Femi Onipede and Omope Oluwanitemi, were overwhelming and equally convincing “to grant their reliefs”.

    He added: “The prosecution counsel have proved their case beyond reasonable doubt and the accused are hereby sentenced to death by hanging.”

    The convicts, in 2011, were sent to Omuo-Ekiti to maintain order during a political rally in the town.

    It was learnt that a fracas ensued between supporters of rival parties and the policemen fired shots that resulted in the death of the two people at the scene.

     

  • Why policemen may continue to live in mess

    Why policemen may continue to live in mess

    President Goodluck Jonathan made an unscheduled visit to the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos after watching a Channels Television clip on the squalid conditions at the training institute. He was furious. But that was just a tip of the iceberg. What will he do if he visits the barracks? The condition of police barracks across the country leaves nothing to desire. Yet, there is a controversy over who should pay contractors to renovate the barracks, report Gbade Ogunwale (Abuja), Leke Salaudeen, Bisi Oladele (Ibadan), Kolade Adeyemi (Kano), Precious Dike (Port Harcourt), Yusuf Aminu–Idegu (Jos), Damisi Ojo (Akure), Tony Akowe (Kaduna) and Adekunle Jimoh (Ilorin).

    Littered in every available space, including under staircases, are various sizes of mattresses, sleeping mats, buckets and other personal effects belonging to stranded policemen attached to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command. Many of these officers have been in Abuja for months and there is no accommodation for them in the barracks. So, they make the police command their squatters’ paradise.

    The situation is not peculiar to Abuja. In almost all the police commands in the country, from Lagos to far-flung Borno State, the situation is the same.

    For those who even have rooms in the barracks, they might as well be living in open-roof houses. The Nation’s investigations across the country reveal decay occasioned by years of neglect by the authorities.

    At the various barracks, the structures are dilapidated from foundation to the roof. Owing to wear and tear, one can hardly make out the original colours the weather beaten structures were painted in. The environment depicts a mixture of organic and human waste caked up by the harsh, blazing sun. Separating the various apartments are streams of dark coloured, viscous and slimy fluids oozing lazily by. The putrid stench that assails the nasal passage can constitute a health hazard.

    No rehabilitation has been done on many of the structures since they were built several years ago. The Presidential Committee on Police Barracks Rehabilitation seems to have gone into sleep. Contracts were awarded for the rehabilitation of the buildings, but the contractors do not seem to be making progress on the job, a development that has continued to be a source of worry to the policemen and their families living in such deplorable conditions.

    Contractors say the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Force Headquatres have been pushing them around over who should pay for the rehabilitation.

    Tale of neglect

    While the ministry and the

    Force headquatres seem

    confused about who should pay contractors for the rehabilitation, the barracks are sinking deeper into rot.

    The barracks at Ikeja are derelict, with the flats no longer suitable for human habitation. The walls are perforated. The pillars and deckings have signs of weakness written all over them. The plaster on the concrete is peeling off and the iron rods are becoming naked.

    The drains are silted, forcing waste water to find its level, thereby making the environment to stink. The sewage system has collapsed; the soak-away and septic tanks are not functioning; the pipes connecting the toilet with the chambers constitute an eye sore to visitors. Residents of the State Traffic Division (STD) B Operations Department Barracks are using pit latrines, which the Lagos State government outlawed over a decade ago. The facilities, built with iron sheets, could be taken for a shrine.

    There is no water supply into the quarters. The occupants rely on water vendors for their daily need. Overcrowding makes living in the barracks unbearable. Three families share a two-bedroom flat in some blocks, irrespective of gender and family size.

    The open gutters have become breeding ground for mosquitoes and this exposes residents to frequent malaria attacks.

    With no provision for the evacuation of refuse, the residents discharge their waste into the drains, thus clogging the channels. The stench oozing out of the drains is offensive to the nostrils.

    Despite the filthy environment, it is business-as-usual for the wives of policemen, who run restaurants and eating joints.

    The Iwo Road Barracks in Ibadan, located inside the Area Command, has cracks on its walls; the windows of the two-storey building are broken and the sanitation is appalling. The lack of routine maintenance makes it to look like a typical house in the slum. The barracks is home to the rank and file of the Force.

    The building, which houses no fewer than eight families on each floor, has an abandoned water tank in the front.

    At the Police Headquarters, Eleyele, where several of such buildings are located, the story is the same. The facilities are in a sorry state.

    For instance, the bathrooms in the two-room apartments are largely unkempt, making them to look like public toilets. Becuase the taps in the apartments dry, residents are left with no option but to go down the stairs to fetch water from a communal tap.

    It was learnt that occupants pay to fix facilities, such as electricity. Some of the vacant apartments have broken ceilings and their balconies stinks.

    In Kano, many officers elect to rent houses on their own, owing to dilapidated facilities within the barracks.

    A police officer attached to the Bompai Police Headquarters said: “Police men living in the barracks are suffering and smiling. In fact, apart from the security threat of the Boko Haram insurgence, I decided to park out from the barracks to rent an apartment for myself and family because I want to live long.

    “Our police barracks are in bad shape. They are an eyesore. They are practically inhabitable because of lack of maintenance and provision of basic facilities.

    “In fact, those of my colleagues still living the barracks do not have a choice, particularly the rank and file; because, there in the barracks, you still have the VIPs.”

    The MOPOL 9 Baracks at Hotoro Quarters is a replica of what obtains elsewhere, despite the fact that it belongs to the senior officers.

    There is not much difference at the Zone 1 Police Barracks. The structures are dilapidated and the roofs lick. Residents at the barracks complain of lack of access to potable water and epileptic power supply.

    In Plateau State, many of the barracks look like refugee camps. Yet, many officers do not even have space in the dungeon.

    The largest police barracks in Jos, “A’ Divisional Police Barracks” has been undergoing renovation since 2010. Some of the blocks at the barracks now have modern aluminum roofs and have been repainted. The other facilities, such as toilets are unsightly. The environment stinks.

    The situation of most police barracks in Ondo State is not different from what is obtainable in other states.

    The barracks could pass for ghettos and shanties, as they lack the basic amenities to make life meaningful for its inhabitants

    The ‘A Division’ and the MOPOL barracks along Oba-Ile in Akure are in a terrible state. For instance, the A Division Barracks in Akure is in a sorry state with no potable water. A large portion of the two-storey building is completely abandoned, after it reportedly gutted fire several years ago.

    In Kaduna, majority of police personnel live in rented apartments. Those who are privileged to live in the barracks, spread across the metropolis are not excited to live there. Many of the facilities cannot be described as habitable. The one located close to the St Gerard Catholic Hospital, in Kaduna, have recently received attention. Many others, including the Kawo Police Barracks, have not received any form of renovation for a long time. The Nation gathered that the barracks were supposed to have benefited from the barrack renovation scheme under the Presidential Committee on Police Barracks, but only a few of the houses and the institutions were actually renovated.

    A source within one of the barracks told The Nation that “some of these buildings were built before independence and many of them are just single rooms, while some others are two rooms. There was no provision for the extended family.

    “That is why you have a lot of makeshift structures within the barracks. If you go to the Gabasawa Police Barracks, you will discover that what would have served as the balcony for the houses have been converted to rooms constructed mainly with plywood and that is where the children of the policemen and their extended families are living. This is not healthy.”

    The J.P Clark’s popular poem on ‘Ibadan’ which reads “Running splash of rust and gold, flung and scattered among seven hills like broken china in the sun,” succinctly captures the pathetic state of the barracks in Kwara State. Many of the buildings have known better days. Stench wafting from silted drains and soak-aways assail the nostrils of visitors to the ‘A Division’ of the Police Barracks, on the popular Ajase-Ipo road in Ilorin, the Kwara State.

    Rehabilitation a huge joke

    One of the contractors handling

    part of the barracks rehabilita

    tion contracts said the project has become a huge joke. The contractor, who did not want his name published for fear of victimisation, said the Preseidential Committee has not been fair to the contractors. He said nothing would be achieved at the end of the day.

    Paucity of funds, he said, has been the major challenge. He added that some of the contractors, who borrowed funds to implement the project are alrready blaming themselves.

    He said: “The truth is that I don’t see the project achieving the desired results. I even doubt if the Federal Government itself expected any result from the exercise. They are not releasing funds to mobilise the contractors. Those who borrowed money to do part of the job are regretting our actions. As I am talking to you, some contractors have developed various kinds of ailments arising from the disappointment and the pressure being mounted on them by their creditors, including banks. As a matter of fact, I am aware that one or two of the contractors died while pursuing payments for the jobs handled by their firms.”

    Buck-passing game

    The Nation gathered that the rehabilitation contracts were

    awarded between 2009 and 2010. Curiously, the question of who is responsible for payments to contractors has become a subject of buck passing between the Force Headquarters and the Ministry of Police Affairs.

    Deputy Force Public Relations Officer Frank Mba said he was not competent to speak on the matter. In a telephone conversation on Monday, Mba said his brief stops at routine operational and administrative matters concerning the Force Headquarters. He advised The Nation to direct its inquiry to “those whose responsibility it is to pay the contractors”.

    But a source at the Force Headquarters said payments for police contracts, including the ones for barracks rehabilitation, are being handled by the Police Affairs Ministry.

    The source said: “There is no office at the Force Headquarters that pays contractors. All contractors are paid by the ministry. Even petty contracts awarded by the Force Headquarters are verified by officials from the ministry before payments are made. It is the ministry that exercises absolute control over police contracts. Even allowances and estacodes of police officers going on courses are being processed and paid by the ministry. Only funds meant for salaries are disbursed by the Force Headquarters.”

    Last September, contractors under the aegis of the Association of Police Contractors protested at the Police Affairs Ministry over the N7.4 billion allegedly owed them by the police since 2008.

    The group, in a letter signed by its Chairman, Patrick Ojo and Secretary, Aloysius Okonkwo, asked the National Assembly and the Finance Ministry to prevail on Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar and Police Affiars Minister Caleb Olubolade to use their quarterly allocations to offset the debt.

    The group lamented that despite several appeals and meetings with Olubolade and the IG, “no concrete effort has been made to correct the unwholesome system of funds and project management in both the police force and the ministry”.

    The contractors said: “This action smacks of gross insensitivity, recklessness and an attempt to further impoverish and pauperise our members. The action of the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Nigerian Police in handling the problem is at variance with the Bureau of Public Procurement Act.”

    The contractors also claimed that two of their members died due to frustration-induced stress, high blood pressure and stroke.

    Police Affairs Minister Caleb Olubolade said the contracts were awarded by the Force Headquarters. He said: “We are not the ones that award contracts for the rehabilitation of police barracks. So, you are asking the question from the wrong person. You have to take that question back to the Force Headquarters.

    “The Police Affairs Ministry only serves as a clearing house because vouchers for payment to contractors are usually raised at the Force Headquarters. The Ministry only ensures that due process is followed in the award of the contracts and that the contracts are executed to specifications.”

    Olubolade added that the contracts awarded by the Force Headquarters are in excess of available funds, thereby creating friction between the anxious contractors and the paying authority. The minister said contrary to the general belief that the ministry warehouses the total police budget, every police formation controls its budget.

    According to him, the ministry only gets its own budget and funds meant for police intervention projects under the Reform Programme.

    Olubolade said the Police Reform Committee is chaired by the Vice President, Namadi Sambo. He listed other members of the committee as the Minister of Finance, six state governors, minister of Police Affairs and representatives of the police.

    The minister continued: “Authority for the distribution, approval and disbursement of all appropriations for the police lies with the IGP who is the accounting officer of the Nigeria Police Force. The Ministry does not tamper with approvals and disbursements of police budgetary allocations, but only carries out its supervisory roles of ensuring that all financial regulations and statutory due processes are followed in the award and execution of contracts and fund allocations”. The minister expressed worry at the non payment for contracts awarded for the rehabilitation projects at various police barracks. To address the problem, the minister said he gave a directive at a meeting with stakeholders in October 2012 that incoming funds for barracks rehabilitation should be split on 60/40 percentage. The directive was that 40 percent of the funds should be used in paying outstanding liabilities for contractors, while 60 percent should go into rehabilitation project. “I also directed that contracts should be awarded according to available funds. But what is on ground today is a situation where the amounts of contracts already awarded exceeds the available funds.”

    The minister, who spoke with The Nation yesterday, said the priority of the Federal Government for now was how to tackle the insecurity in the land. According to him, attention is focused on how to address challenges like bombing, kidnapping and other security challenges, saying it is a case of competing demands in the face of limited funds.

    His ministry, he said, does not have a subhead for barracks rehabilitation in its budget. The ex Naval Chief added that available funds are being complemented by funding from the Police Reform Programme which was established in 2010. He added that even at that, funding from the programme, which comes in trickles, is mainly for training of police personnel and police training institutions like the Police Academy and Police Staff College.

    “There is dwindling funding from the Reform/Intervention Programme, which is making things a bit difficult. For instance, the budget for the Reform Programme for 2012 is merely N22 billion and we are not sure how much we are going to get from that amount at the end of the day,” he said.

    The sum of N65, 6 billion was budgeted for the Reform Programme in 2010; N17. 1 in 2011; and N12.3 in 2012 out of which only a fraction was released in all the instances. In view of the perennial shortfall in budget releases, the minister urged the Force Headquarters to prioritise its projects, stressing that the Force Headquarters has its own budgetary provision for the rehabilitation of barracks. The ministry put the total outstanding liabilities of the police to various contractors, including rehabilitation, at N26 billion.

    He attributed the distortions in funding of police projects to shortfall in budget releases, pointing out that just like other ministries and departments, both the police and the ministry do not get their full annual budgets released to them.

    By way of filling the resource gap in the funding of barracks rehabilitation project, the minister promised to make case for the project whenever the 2013 budget for the Reform Programme is released. He said: “If the police table barracks rehabilitation as their priority in the current year, we will make a case with the committee headed by the Vice-President for more funding in that direction. This will be in addition to the police budget for rehabilitation of the barracks. But let me make it clear that contrary to what members of the public believe, this ministry does not decide the fate of the police. They turn to us whenever they have specific challenges and we support them according to what available resources permit.”

    A document obtained by The Nation shows that budgetary allocations for police formations and commands are released directly to the Force Headquarters and that the budget section of the IGP’s office handles budgetary matters of the police, including allocation of funds and distribution to heads and sub-heads. The document also stated that capital budget allocation, distribution and utilisation are the sole responsibility of the Force Headquarters where approvals and contracts are carried out in line with extant rules on thresholds (approval limits). Payments are processed at the Force Headquarters accounts department after due approvals by the IGP.

    The document states that the IGP, through the budget section of his office, issues fund allocation instructions on overhead and personnel costs, which are decentralised to formations and commands.

    It was also discovered that approval limits for the Force Headquarters Tenders Board are N50 million for supplies of goods; N250 million for works; and N50 million for non-consultant and consultant services.

    These approval limits are said to be in line with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

    “The authority for the distribution, approval and disbursement of all appropriations for the police lies with the IGP who is the accounting officer of the Nigeria Police Force.

    “The Ministry does not tamper with approvals and disbursements of police budgetary allocations, but only carries out its supervisory roles of ensuring that all financial regulations and statutory due processes are followed in the award and execution of contracts and fund allocations,” the document reads.”

    When reporters asked Abubakar on February 14 why the rehabilitation of police barracks could not be done through direct labour, as being done in respect of the transit camp around the Force headquatres, the IGP kept mum.

    Instead, he said the police institution under his leadership, will continue to ensure decent accommodation for police personnel.

    For now, the bad times for the officers who live in the barracks continue.

     

  • Two policemen held for attempted murder

    The Anambra State Police Command yesterday arrested two policemen over the attempted murder and kidnap of an Onitsha businessman, Prince Emeka Asoanya.

    The Commissioner of Police, Bala Nasarawa, said the two policemen were among the 20 suspects, who invaded and destroyed seven vehicles and Asoanya’s house in Onitsha.

    The commissioner said he directed the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Central Police Station (CPS), Onitsha, Tope Fasugba, to transfer the matter to the Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).

    Reliving his ordeal, Asoanya said he had a dispute with a lady, Princess.

    He said the bandits who follow her around could not break into his house but one of them scaled the fence and destroyed the gate.

    “Immediately they entered, the lady was shouting that she was working on the instruction of the Inspector General of Police (IG). She said she would kill me. She ordered one of her boys to shoot me.

    “They shot but missed me before they started destroying the vehicles in the compound and the house.”

     

  • Two policemen killed in Imo

    Two policemen have been killed by bandits in Oguta community, Oguta Local Government of Imo State, after a businessman, Emeka Aseme, was abducted by the assailants.

    Aseme, who is the proprietor of the Niger Plaza, Oguta, was reportedly seized by the hoodlums, who operated in a Toyota Hilux van and were dressed in military camouflage.

    An indigene of the community, who gave his name as Nani, said the bandits began shooting the moment they sighted their victim.

    Two policemen were killed in the ensuing gun battle.

    The victim was reportedly shot in the leg before he was taken away.

    Police spokesman Vitalis Onugu could not be reached for comments.

  • Gunmen kill policeman, kidnap Lebanese in Delta

    Fear gripped residents of Uti Street and other parts of Effurun, Delta State on Wednesday following the killing of a mobile policeman in the area.

    The incident occurred during a kidnap of an expatriate staff of a construction firm.

    An expatriate staff working for the Lebanese construction firm, Levant Nigeria Limited, whose identity was not immediately known, was abducted by gunmen brandishing dangerous weapons.

    The Nation gathered that the ill-fated policeman was among security personnel attached to the expatriate before the gunmen struck.

    Although the circumstance of the killing was yet unknown, our correspondent gathered that the attack took place along Uti Road, which link the DSC Expressway base of the construction firm.

    The Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, could not be reached for comment as he did not take calls placed to his mobile phone by our reporter. He was also yet to reply to our text inquiry.

    However, a staff of the construction firm who answered calls to the company’s official telephone line in Abuja confirmed the kidnap. The staff, who simply identified himself as Shittu, said details were still sketchy when our reporter called at 2:16pm.

    He said, “Yes, we heard of it (kidnap), but we do not know the details yet. The events are still unfolding now.”

    Levant