NEWS: Senate's Invitation To IGP Was About Dino Melaye, Not Killings, Police Insist

• Indeed, the Police described the Senate’s claim that the invitations which the police chief repeatedly refused to honor were over the killings going on in different parts of the country as an ‘afterthought’ in a series of tweets via its official Twitter handle @policeNG on Monday. 

Inspector General of Police Mr. Ibrahim Idris

Nigeria Police authorities said Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, was invited by the Senate over alleged maltreatment of Senator Dino Melaye, and not to discuss strategies for tackling killings going on in different parts of the country as the upper chamber of the National Assembly has been saying.

Indeed, the Police described the Senate’s claim that the invitations which the police chief repeatedly refused to honor were over the killings going on in different parts of the country as an ‘afterthought’ in a series of tweets via its official Twitter handle @policeNG on Monday.

Police back up its claim with the scanned copy of the two letters of invitation sent to the IGP by the Senate.   

It added that the emphasis on security matters in the invitation letters was “diversionary to attract undeserved public sympathy in the Senate’s desperate bid to trivialize and water down the crime and criminal liabilities for which Senator Dino Melaye is standing trial.”

The Senate, in the series of tweets, also pointed out that the IGP had appeared before the Senate 10 times since he assumed office in 2016.

The police in further tweets, also said the security strategies being adopted by to tackle the killings going on in the country should not be a matter for discussion on national television.

"The recent claim by the Senate that the reason for inviting the IGP is to brief them on the recent killings in some part of the Country is an afterthought which can be seen from the headings of their invitation letters," the tweet read.

“The Nigeria Police Force as a law-abiding entity will continue to uphold the rule of law in all its ramifications and also ensure that nobody under any guise, no matter how highly placed is allowed to pervert the course of Justice.”

The Police also implored the senate not to whip-up sentiment or resort to self-help but to allow the rule of law and justice to prevail on the matter of Senator Melaye.

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Declaration Of IGP As 'Enemy Of Democracy' Will Be Challenged In Court - Police

He also justified his boss refusal to honor the Senate’s invitation with the argument that the key issues for which Mr. Idris was summoned for related to the criminal trial of Senator Dino Melaye, which is already in court.

Mr. David Igbodo, the legal adviser to the Nigeria Police Force said the declaration of Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, as ‘enemy of democracy’ by the Senate on Wednesday will be challenged in court.

Igbodo, a commissioner of police said this while speaking of Channels Television's breakfast programme, Sunrise, on the declaration made by the Senate after the Inspector General of Police repeatedly failed to honor the invitation of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

The Police legal adviser also said Mr. Idris should be commended for his contributions to the development of Nigeria’s democracy rather than being declared as the enemy

He added that Inspector General of Police respects due process, even as he also refuted the allegations that the police chief had in the past disobeyed instructions of President Muhammadu Buhari to go to Benue at the height of killings of villages in the State by Fulani herdsmen.

The legal adviser claimed that IGP stayed in Benue state for five days and only moved to Nassarawa when he got information that the group carrying out the killings were from the neighboring state.

He also said the IGP has appeared before the senate over 10 times since he was appointed in 2016 and therefore, cannot be said to be disrespectful of the lawmakers.

The police commissioner defended the decision of Mr. Idris to send a Deputy Inspector General to represent him when the Senate summoned him as he argued that official functions of the IGP can be performed by the DIG or Assistant Inspector General of Police.

He also justified his boss refusal to honor the Senate’s invitation with the argument that the key issues for which Mr. Idris was summoned for related to the criminal trial of Senator Dino Melaye, which is already in court.

He argued that the Senate lacks the power to summon anybody over a matter, which is already a subject of a court proceeding.

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POLICE: After Third Snub In Two Weeks, Senate Declares IGP Idris 'Enemy Of Democracy

• “The refusal of the IG to appear before an investigative committee as also ruled by a court of competent jurisdiction is a great danger to our democracy,” Saraki said. "Therefore, the Senate resolves to declare the IGP as an enemy of democracy and not fit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria." 

For the third time in less than two weeks, Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris has again failed to honour the invitation of the Senate to give reasons for the arrest and detention of Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West, and also speak on insecurity in the country.

This has prompted the Senate to declare him “an enemy of democracy” who is “unfit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria”.

Idris was first summoned on April 25 but he failed to appear, instead accompanying President Muhammadu Buhari on an official visit to Borno State.

He was summoned for the second time to appear on May 2 but he again failed to honour it, delegating Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Operations) Joshak Habila, whom the Senate refused to entertain.

And for the third time on Wednesday, Idris ignored the summons.

Speaking on this development during the plenary, Senator Enyinaya Abaribe described the IGP’s behaviour as an indication that democracy in the country is dying a slow death.

“What is happening today in Nigeria shows that democracy is dying bit by bit and also shows the abuse of power and office by the IG,” he said. “What the IG is doing in the eyes of the world shows that there is no respect for the law.”

Senator Ahmad Lawan said: “It is very unusual for a public servant to act like this. I have never see this before anywhere in the world; we need to take a decision because this affects security in the entire country."

Senator Isah Misau referred to Idris as an incompetent individual not fit for office, saying: "What the IGP is doing is not against the Senate but against the presidency that appointed him into office; it's unfortunate. The IG is not competent to be in the office.”

Another senator added: "This is unacceptable and disrespectful. It requires immediate action and I think this Senate needs to take serious action in looking for a way forward.”

Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate, described Idris’s action as “disrespectful to the institution and constitutional authority”.

“The refusal of the IG to appear before an investigative committee as also ruled by a court of competent jurisdiction is a great danger to our democracy,” he said.

"Therefore, the Senate resolves to declare the IGP as an enemy of democracy and not fit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria."

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Police Introduce Community Football Competition In Enugu State

• The Public Relations Officer of the command, Ebere Amaraizu, told newsmen on Wednesday in Enugu that the competition was one of the creative overtures to sustain peace in the state.

Competition would commence in Iva-Valley community in the Enugu North Local Government Area of the state.

He said the command would thereafter, take the competition to other communities to provide opportunities for youths to hone their skills and make their living through football.

“We are using sports, especially football, to spread the message of unity and peaceful co-existence in the communities.

“We have found out that football competitions provide scenarios to get youths’ attention and we pass peace messages in during matches."

According to him, the command wants to rekindle the spirit of patriotism and peace keeping within neighborhoods.

Amaraizu noted that the command had been using proactive means to counter criminality and hatred among youths.

“The command believes that Nigerians have a lot to gain by living and working harmoniously with one another other."

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BREAKING NEWS: Police Detain Alhaji Usman Adamu In Connection With Suspicious Death Of Joy Odama

• The police in Abuja have detained one Usman Adamu as a suspect in the death of a young woman, Joy Odama.

• According to a statement released earlier today by a police spokesman Jimoh Moshood, Mr. Adamu is being detained as the police continue their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ms. Odama’s death in the suspect’s apartment in Abuja.  Apart from Ms. Odama’s death, another young woman in the suspect’s residence, Victoria Ezekiel, fell gravely ill but was resuscitated at the Federal Medical Center in Jabi, Abuja. 

Late Joy Odama

The police spokesman disclosed that the Mr. Adamu’s investigation for culpable homicide began after a law firm representing Philomena Odama, the mother of the deceased young woman, wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police. In the petition, dated January 5, 2017, Mrs. Odama urged the IGP to order an investigation into her daughter’s death in Mr. Adamu’s apartment.

The late Joy Odama was a second-year student of Mass Communication at Cross River State University of Technology. The police statement said she “died mysteriously in the flat of Alhaji Usman Adamu located at Ibro Quarters, Karmo, Abuja on 21/12/2016.”

According to the police report, on December 18, 2016, one Elizabeth Okpata James asked Ms. Joy Odama to go with her to Mr. Adamu’s house along with another woman, Martha Hassan. The report added that Mrs. Philomena Odama later met Mr. Adamu “who promised to offer her a job with the

Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).” On December 20, 2016, the suspect requested that Joy Odama come to his apartment to help take care of his ill house-help while he sought the services of a medical doctor.

However, when Joy Odama’s mother called the suspect the next day to ask after her daughter, Mr. Adamu reportedly pretended not to know the young woman. The next day, the distraught mother was invited to Karmo Police Division where she was informed that her daughter, Joy Odama, and Victoria Ezekiel had become unconscious the previous day in Mr. Adamu’s home and were rushed to the Federal Medical Center, Jabi where her daughter Joy Odama was pronounced dead but the other young woman regained consciousness.

The police said the hospital placed Ms. Ezekiel on oxygen and treated her for conditions that included carbon monoxide poisoning, dehydration, vomiting, and headaches.

The police spokesman disclosed that two autopsies were done at the National Hospital, Abuja to ascertain Ms. Joy Odama’s cause of death. He said the first autopsy, done by Dr. Jibrin Paul, was inconclusive, but the second, carried out by Dr. Wilson Akhinwu, determined that the cause of death was “carbon monoxide poisoning from generator fumes” aggravated by “a pre-existing cardiomyopathy.” The autopsy ruled out the presence of cocaine in the deceased.

The police spokesman revealed that Mr. Adamu would remain in detention, adding that the case file would be sent to Federal Director of

Public Prosecutions for legal advice and further action.

The police urged the family of Ms. Odama to remain patient, promising that police investigators would do a thorough job and ensure that justice was done in the case.

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Nigerian Secret Police Force Foil Escape Attempt By Former BBC Reporter Tangaza

• A middle-aged man named "Idris" has been apprehended by the Department of State Services (DSS) detectives for attempting to facilitate the escape of a former BBC Hausa Service reporter, Jamilah Tangaza from Nigeria through a small border town in Kwara state. The DSS agents caught Idris with Ms. Tangaza's passport after he had attempted to get it stamped by the Nigerian Immigration Services outpost in Chikanda in Kwara State.

Jamilah-Tangaza

A middle-aged man named "Idris" has been apprehended by the Department of State Services (DSS) detectives for attempting to facilitate the escape of a former BBC Hausa Service reporter, Jamilah Tangaza from Nigeria through a small border town in Kwara state.

The DSS agents caught Idris with Ms. Tangaza's passport after he had attempted to get it stamped by the Nigerian Immigration Services outpost in Chikanda in Kwara State.

According to a DSS official, Ms. Tangaza was waiting to collect the passport and exit Nigeria through the border town. She could not be found after her emissary tipped her off that he'd been arrested by the DSS. Ms. Tangaza was detained in August 2016 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission accused of stealing N800million as while she served as the Director of Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) as well as a Senior Special Assistant to the  former Federal Capital Territory Minister, Bala Mohammed.

A  source at the EFCC told Saharareporters that the agency was surprised that she acquired another passport after depositing her original passport with the EFCC in August as part of the conditions for granting her bail.

The sources said she would be re-arrested and charged alongside her former boss Bala Mohammed as soon investigations are concluded.

Mr. Mohammed was detained last night by the EFCC for a multi-billion naira fraud.

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[NEWS] Your duty isn't to check vehicle particulars – AIG to policemen

• Dan Bature, Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of police in charge of Zone 11 comprising Oyo, Osun and Ondo states, has said that any policeman checking vehicle particulars on the highway is on illegal duty, NAN reports.

 Dan Bature, AIG of police in Zone 11 comprising Oyo, Osun and Ondo states, has warned policemen against checking vehicle particulars on the highways.

Bature made this known on Wednesday, October 19, in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, during a two-day familiarization visit to the state. According to him, the duty of the police was not to check vehicle particulars but to ensure safer roads.
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He said that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) was committed to changing the negative image of the police and supporting the anti-corruption war of the federal government.
He noted that a lot was expected by the public from the police, adding that this informed the monitoring of officers. “The Inspector General of Police is determined to improve on your welfare and pursue the increment of your salary. “But this can only be achieved when the people have good perception about the police,” Bature said. Bature also advised officers unable to key into the laudable initiatives of the IGP to resign from the force. This comes even as he warned policemen against blocking high ways, saying police patrol vehicles were not supposed to be toll gates. Speaking earlier, Sam Adegbuyi, the Oyo state commissioner of police, said that the officers were dedicated and patriotic. Meanwhile, IGP Ibrahim Idris recently reacted to the report by Amnesty International, which accused a special Nigerian police unit set up to combat crimes, of torturing detainees in its custody as a means of extracting confessions and lucrative bribes. In an interview with Al Jazeera, IGP Ibrahim Idris denied all the allegations. “Nigeria Police Force condemn in all its entity every element of torture in the conduct of police operations in this country,” he said. He added: “And we have units on the ground to check some of these excesses.”

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