Sani in his petition said that he was embarrassed by the way the Divisional Police Officer, Central Police Division, handled the matter.
A man, Abdulmumini Shehu Sani, has petitioned the Katsina State Commissioner of Police over the poor handling of alleged assault on him and his family members by suspected land grabbers.
Sani in his petition said that he was embarrassed by the way the Divisional Police Officer, Central Police Division, handled the matter.
He also accused the police officer of failing to send in a reinforcement team when he and his family members were under attack by the suspected land grabbers.
The petition reads in part, “This is to bring to your notice what transpired on 19th January, 2022 between myself and the Divisional Police Officer, Central Police Division, who has acted in a way that has made me lose confidence in his ability to handle a dispute between myself and a group of persons that are engaged in unlawful gathering by the fence of my house at Rafukka.
“Yesterday, Wednesday, 19th January, 2022, I was seated at the vicinity of my house at Rafukka here in Katsina. I saw a group of persons measuring the fence of my house alongside those whom I’m in court over the unlawful gathering they engaged in around my residence which is a threat to my life.
“I immediately placed a phone call to the divisional police officer and informed him about the ongoing issues around my residence. He asked me whether I know those people. I told him I don’t know most of them and I don’t know their mission, then he told me not to engage them in any form of discussion. I also reported at the Sharia Court in Kofarsoro, the judge asked me not to In the evening, one of my relations, Babangida, visited and I told him what my lawyer told me regarding the case.
“He immediately volunteered to take the photographs of the fence. I gave him a camera to take the side and front view of the house. But as he was taking those shots, those people engaged in unlawful gathering around the house attacked him and beat him up mercilessly and took away his phone and my camera that was with him. Babangida came back after almost to slump, he screamed weakly that I should take him to the hospital, that he was badly hit on his chest.”
Sani said all efforts to take his relatives, Babangida to the hospital were blocked by the suspected hoodlums who mobilised towards his residence and attacked his car.
“But as I attempted to take him to the hospital, those people turned violent and mobilised towards my residence and attacked the car. They blocked us and told us we cannot take my relative to the hospital. I immediately withdrew and placed a call to the DPO Central Police Station urging for reinforcement as my life and that of my family were under threat.
“The DPO declined to send a reinforcement but rather told me to go back into the house. I felt those people could invade my house and possibly attack my family which I wanted to avoid. As those people engaged in unlawful gathering around my house turned violent and took law into their hands and I did not want to act same way. That was why I reported to to them authorities but I felt betrayed by the DPO.
“Nevertheless, I managed to escape with my injured relatives and my friend and we headed to the police area office central police division where we reported to the Area Commander. He referred the cause to the DPO and some police at the counter asked me to take my injured relative to the hospital first. A police officer was attached to us and we took Babaginda to the accident and emergency ward of the hospital. We left the patient at the hospital and went back to the police division.
“The police invited those violent crowds that attempted to attack my house. But I wasn’t impressed by the way the DPO handled the case. He did not take cognizance of the fact that the crowd attempted to attack me and he treated both myself and the attackers as suspect. What made me to lose confidence in the DPO’s ability to handle the case was the fact that when I sought for reinforcement to protect me and my family while we were being threatened by the crowd, the DPO refused to act which is contravention of one of the primary responsibilities of esteemed police personnel.
“I hereby appeal for your highly needed intervention because I have lost confidence in the ability with willingness of the DPO to treat my case fairly. I request that the case be transferred to higher police authorities like the command headquarters, Katsina.”