January 4, 2009
The Chairman
Police Service Commission
Federal Secretariat Complex
Shehu Shagari Way
Garki 2
Abuja
Dear Sir,
THE POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION MUST DEAL WITH ALL CASES OF POLICE MISCONDUCT WITH EQUAL ATTENTION, ZEAL AND SPEED, AND WITHOUT PARTIALITY OR DISCRIMINATION!
The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) is a 39-member network of non-governmental organizations. It was established in 2000 and is committed to providing opportunities for civil society involvement in police reform and the enhancement of safety and security in Nigeria.
NOPRIN has noted the speed and zeal with which your Commission dismissed Nuhu Ribadu based on the report of the ‘Police Disciplinary Committee’ set up by the IGP, Mike Okiro to try Ribadu for ‘gross misconduct’. NOPRIN has some concerns about the action and procedure of your Commission and requests that you address these concerns.
a) Was it the right legal procedure and within the powers of the IGP -who is Ribadu’s accuser- to set up a disciplinary committee to try Ribadu for alleged acts of misconduct?
b) Did the PSC delegate such powers to the IGP? Was it right to do so, if it did?
c) Wasn’t the PSC required by law to independently and impartially investigate the allegations brought against Ribadu by the Police?
d) And in doing so, was Ribadu not entitled to be invited by the PSC and given the opportunity to defend himself?
Further, NOPRIN observes that the speed and zeal with which the PSC acted in dismissing Nuhu Ribadu from the Police Force for ‘gross misconduct’ contrasts sharply with the oversight agency’s negligent attitude towards other more serious allegations of egregious abuse and gross misconducts, particularly the ones that NOPRIN previously petitioned your Commission about.
NOPRIN finds it amazing-even curious- that the PSC could act with such dizzying speed in ‘treating’ allegations involving Ribadu but ignored to act on more serious cases of police misconduct brought to its attention by NOPRIN and other organizations and individuals. For example, in October 2008 alone NOPRIN petitioned the PSC concerning some rank and file and superior police officers who engaged in various egregious abuses and serious misconducts. Some of the cases included:
a) a police DPO Mrs. Edna, then at Fegge Police Division, Onitsha, Anambra State, who tried to compound felony by covering up a police corporal, Daniel Ayuba who shot dead a lady, Nkechi Obidigwe at a police checkpoint somewhere along Zik’s Avenue, Fegge, Onitsha in 2006. The truth was later unraveled when AC Katsina, then at State CID, Awka (now at the Force Headquarters) intervened, carried out an impartial investigation which led to the identification of the killer police corporal, who indeed, confessed during an orderly room trial. According to NOPRIN’s report, ‘The PDO, Mrs. Edna denied that her men were responsible and claimed that it was MASSOB members that shot the girl. The matter was later taken over by the State CID Awka following a petition by the family members and the public outrage it generated. Three officers at the checkpoint were fished out, arrested and detained. Autopsy revealed that a police bullet AK47 killed the victim. But the DPO continued to deny and even attempted to intimidate the family. A ballistic examination confirmed that the bullet was from a police gun, and the three officers were subjected to orderly room trial. The particular officer who fired the shot later admitted. He was later charged for murder and remanded in Onitsha prison. DPO Edna was not made to face the legal consequences of her misconduct, but was immediately posted out of Fegge Police Station.
b) A police officer, Obinna Anyanwu, attached to the CIB, Imo State Command Headquarters, Owerri who was involved in unlawful arrest and detention, brutality, violation of human dignity, sexual abuse of female detainees- including an under-aged girl, and extortion. Along with other police officers, Obinna Anyanwu broke into a home at midnight, brutalized the whole household for reporting his relations to the Area Command, Owerri, for assault. In order to shield his relations from answering to the allegation lodged against them at the Area Command, Obinna conspired with his brother, Barrister Casmir Anyamwu and other police officers on night patrol, and they stormed the complainants’ home at midnight, brutalized everyone and took them to the CIB, Imo State Police Command Headquarters, Owerri and detained them-male and female- all in a male cell. Those detained included a married woman, two young girls, one of whom was 14, and a young man. The female detainees were subjected to sexual abuse by the male inmates.
c) A Superior Police Officer, ASP Okoro of the CIB, Imo State Command Headquarters, Owerri who assaulted and injured a man for resisting his (Supol Okoro’s) attempts to twist a case against his (the victim’s) wife who actually brought the complaint against the officer’s relations.
d) A police officer in Enugu State Police Command popularly known as ‘Okpontu’, now said to be in the convoy of the Enugu State Governor, who was notorious for driving nails into the heads of suspects as a means of interrogation. He has been implicated in several incidents of extrajudicial killing.
NOPRIN brought these cases to the attention of the PSC through various petitions in 2008. But up till date, the PSC was yet to even acknowledge any of these petitions, much less act on them. But curiously, the same PSC has often acted with a seeming swift malevolence when it involved Ribadu.
NOPRIN believes that the PSC ought to play independent, impartial and effective oversight roles, and not taint its activities with partisan or political allegiance or sympathy. It should not act in such a manner that will portray it as a political tool in the hands of corrupt and vindictive politicians.
The PSC must act in accordance with due process and in a manner devoid of impartiality. It has an obligation to investigate- with equal attention- all allegations of serious Police misconduct, and all complaints received from members of the public, and make appropriate and effective responses based upon the outcomes. It must be timely in its response to complaints, ensure the integrity of its investigation process and strive to constantly improve the quality and responsiveness of its service to the public and the police.
Finally, NOPRIN requests the PSC to update it with the actions it may have taken on the various petitions it has addressed to it since October 2008.
Yours faithfully,
Okechukwu Nwanguma
(Program Coordinator)
Police Service Commission
Federal Secretariat Complex
Shehu Shagari Way
Garki 2
Abuja
Dear Sir,
THE POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION MUST DEAL WITH ALL CASES OF POLICE MISCONDUCT WITH EQUAL ATTENTION, ZEAL AND SPEED, AND WITHOUT PARTIALITY OR DISCRIMINATION!
The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) is a 39-member network of non-governmental organizations. It was established in 2000 and is committed to providing opportunities for civil society involvement in police reform and the enhancement of safety and security in Nigeria.
NOPRIN has noted the speed and zeal with which your Commission dismissed Nuhu Ribadu based on the report of the ‘Police Disciplinary Committee’ set up by the IGP, Mike Okiro to try Ribadu for ‘gross misconduct’. NOPRIN has some concerns about the action and procedure of your Commission and requests that you address these concerns.
a) Was it the right legal procedure and within the powers of the IGP -who is Ribadu’s accuser- to set up a disciplinary committee to try Ribadu for alleged acts of misconduct?
b) Did the PSC delegate such powers to the IGP? Was it right to do so, if it did?
c) Wasn’t the PSC required by law to independently and impartially investigate the allegations brought against Ribadu by the Police?
d) And in doing so, was Ribadu not entitled to be invited by the PSC and given the opportunity to defend himself?
Further, NOPRIN observes that the speed and zeal with which the PSC acted in dismissing Nuhu Ribadu from the Police Force for ‘gross misconduct’ contrasts sharply with the oversight agency’s negligent attitude towards other more serious allegations of egregious abuse and gross misconducts, particularly the ones that NOPRIN previously petitioned your Commission about.
NOPRIN finds it amazing-even curious- that the PSC could act with such dizzying speed in ‘treating’ allegations involving Ribadu but ignored to act on more serious cases of police misconduct brought to its attention by NOPRIN and other organizations and individuals. For example, in October 2008 alone NOPRIN petitioned the PSC concerning some rank and file and superior police officers who engaged in various egregious abuses and serious misconducts. Some of the cases included:
a) a police DPO Mrs. Edna, then at Fegge Police Division, Onitsha, Anambra State, who tried to compound felony by covering up a police corporal, Daniel Ayuba who shot dead a lady, Nkechi Obidigwe at a police checkpoint somewhere along Zik’s Avenue, Fegge, Onitsha in 2006. The truth was later unraveled when AC Katsina, then at State CID, Awka (now at the Force Headquarters) intervened, carried out an impartial investigation which led to the identification of the killer police corporal, who indeed, confessed during an orderly room trial. According to NOPRIN’s report, ‘The PDO, Mrs. Edna denied that her men were responsible and claimed that it was MASSOB members that shot the girl. The matter was later taken over by the State CID Awka following a petition by the family members and the public outrage it generated. Three officers at the checkpoint were fished out, arrested and detained. Autopsy revealed that a police bullet AK47 killed the victim. But the DPO continued to deny and even attempted to intimidate the family. A ballistic examination confirmed that the bullet was from a police gun, and the three officers were subjected to orderly room trial. The particular officer who fired the shot later admitted. He was later charged for murder and remanded in Onitsha prison. DPO Edna was not made to face the legal consequences of her misconduct, but was immediately posted out of Fegge Police Station.
b) A police officer, Obinna Anyanwu, attached to the CIB, Imo State Command Headquarters, Owerri who was involved in unlawful arrest and detention, brutality, violation of human dignity, sexual abuse of female detainees- including an under-aged girl, and extortion. Along with other police officers, Obinna Anyanwu broke into a home at midnight, brutalized the whole household for reporting his relations to the Area Command, Owerri, for assault. In order to shield his relations from answering to the allegation lodged against them at the Area Command, Obinna conspired with his brother, Barrister Casmir Anyamwu and other police officers on night patrol, and they stormed the complainants’ home at midnight, brutalized everyone and took them to the CIB, Imo State Police Command Headquarters, Owerri and detained them-male and female- all in a male cell. Those detained included a married woman, two young girls, one of whom was 14, and a young man. The female detainees were subjected to sexual abuse by the male inmates.
c) A Superior Police Officer, ASP Okoro of the CIB, Imo State Command Headquarters, Owerri who assaulted and injured a man for resisting his (Supol Okoro’s) attempts to twist a case against his (the victim’s) wife who actually brought the complaint against the officer’s relations.
d) A police officer in Enugu State Police Command popularly known as ‘Okpontu’, now said to be in the convoy of the Enugu State Governor, who was notorious for driving nails into the heads of suspects as a means of interrogation. He has been implicated in several incidents of extrajudicial killing.
NOPRIN brought these cases to the attention of the PSC through various petitions in 2008. But up till date, the PSC was yet to even acknowledge any of these petitions, much less act on them. But curiously, the same PSC has often acted with a seeming swift malevolence when it involved Ribadu.
NOPRIN believes that the PSC ought to play independent, impartial and effective oversight roles, and not taint its activities with partisan or political allegiance or sympathy. It should not act in such a manner that will portray it as a political tool in the hands of corrupt and vindictive politicians.
The PSC must act in accordance with due process and in a manner devoid of impartiality. It has an obligation to investigate- with equal attention- all allegations of serious Police misconduct, and all complaints received from members of the public, and make appropriate and effective responses based upon the outcomes. It must be timely in its response to complaints, ensure the integrity of its investigation process and strive to constantly improve the quality and responsiveness of its service to the public and the police.
Finally, NOPRIN requests the PSC to update it with the actions it may have taken on the various petitions it has addressed to it since October 2008.
Yours faithfully,
Okechukwu Nwanguma
(Program Coordinator)
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