Curbing the Excesses of Police Officers
Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba
Notes for File
The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) under the Monitoring and Mentoring Unit in the Office of the Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba last week commenced investigations into some weighty allegations levelled against three police officers serving at the Zone 13 Command, Ukpo-Dunukofia, and the Anambra State Command.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Anambra State Command, CSP Patrick Agbazue; the PPRO of Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo-Dunukofia, SP Nwode Nkeiruka; and Inspector Harrison Akama attached to the RRS were accused of kidnapping, torture and murder of innocent citizens.
An anonymous blog, Gistlover, which made the accusation with several photos and video evidence, had alleged that Agbazue and his team are worse than their infamous predecessor, CSP James Nwafor (rtd), who was accused of similar crimes during his tenure as head of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Anambra State before the disbandment of SARS.
Despite the efforts of the authorities of the Nigeria Police to rid the force of rogue elements, some notorious police officers have continued to occupy sensitive positions in the Force. It is on record that the current IG, Baba, has made commendable efforts to reform the police in line with the international best practices.
The failure of the previous IGs to curb the excesses of police officers had led the Nigerian youths to take to the streets in October 2020 to demand the disbandment of the dreaded SARS. Before the #EndSARS protests, the atrocities committed by the SARS in Awkuzu under the command of CSP Nwafor had topped the list of the atrocities committed by the dreaded outfit nationwide.
Unfortunately, the bad elements in the former SARS are still committing the same atrocities in their new areas of assignments.
The former Awkuzu SARS, which is now the RRS, has allegedly remained notorious for causing permanent disappearance of suspects in their custody, extra-judicial killings, kidnapping for ransom, and organ harvesting. They also allegedly empty the bank accounts of innocent Nigerians they frame for various offences.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, confirmed in a statement last week that the SIP, comprising respected police officers, would report directly to the IG, and also discharge their responsibility professionally and ensure justice.
Though a former governor and a multi-billionaire businessman are alleged to be backing the accused officers, it is expected that the IG will not allow the panel to compromise investigations.
