Police Exonerate IG of Allegations of Looting, Illicit Sexual Liaisons, Sales of Auctioned Cars

Chiemelie Ezeobi

The Nigeria Police Force on Sunday refuted the recent allegations of illegal sales of auctioned vehicles, looting and Illicit sexual liaisons levelled against the Inspector General of Police, Acting IGP Ibrahim Idris.

The rebuttal was based on an earlier report by online medium, Sahara Reporters, which had accused the IG of unlawfully selling off 30 vehicles to fictitious claimants, embezzlement of public funds, frequent abandonment of his post, and sexual liaisons with subordinates preceding his time as the Commissioner of Police for Kano State.

Describing the allegations as a campaign of calumny, the police said they had first studied the story and found out that it was misleading, false and baseless.

However, senior police officers who initially spoke on anonymity said the issue of sales of cars was a no brainier, adding that had the online platform verified their claims, they will know the IG has no direct hand in auctioneering of vehicles.

The source said, “It’s public knowledge that most auctioned cars are those that are impounded by the police after it must have been recovered from an armed robbery suspect, was purchased with stolen fund or from accident.

“After a period of time, the authority would secure court order to auction unclaimed vehicles in other to decongest its environment after which it would place a public notice on any national dailies asking owners to come with proof of ownership to claim their vehicle within 10 days or risk it being auctioned.

“In all this, neither the Commissioner of Police of a state nor the IGP is directly involved in auction. It is the office of the DCP Operations and the DIG operations that is saddled with this responsibility.

“However, buyers are expected to auction this seized vehicles on behalf of the police. In doing this auctioneers are not bound by law to verify addresses or identities of buyers.”

On the allegations that the IGP had also illegally sold some public properties for private profit, citing the sale of police property in Kano State outposts, another senior police officer said that again could not have been possible since Idris was not in charge of selling government properties.

According to her, “Even if there is a property the police wants to sell, there is a well laid out procedure. The property is even opened for bidding. The CP of a state does not have monopoly of auctioning and selling off government properties.

“How is it even possible? How many people will be bribe to keep quite because the sale of a police property is not something that can be done codedly.”

On the allegations of inappropriate sexual relationship with his subordinates, a personal aide to the IG who spoke on strict sense of anonymity said the news was generated by mischief makers.

He said, “I am one of the closest aides to the IGP and never has he ever asked me or other aides to leave because of any woman, talk more of a corporal. I don’t know where they get this type of false information from. Remember that we also go home with the IGP so we can account for his movement every second.”