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Why trial of Tidjani is delayed, by Police
Commander
By Femi Ogbonnikan
reporter, Lagos
The continued imprisonment of suspected trans-border armed
robbery kingpin, Hammani Tidjani, and his intermittent trial at appropriate law
courts have been blamed on the nature and seriousness of the charge preferred
against him.
Commander of the Nigeria/Republic of Benin Joint Border
Anti-Crime Patrol, Sunday Olanrewaju Bada, a Deputy Supritendent of Police,
whose unit effected the arrest of the suspect stated this in an interview with Daily
Independent at his
Seme border office.
“Hammani Tidjani,” he explained “is
remanded in Kirikiri prison and he has been appearing in courts which have been
adjourning for most of the sittings. It is a trans-border case. It is a matter
that transcends the territory of Nigeria. This is a criminal case of that took
place in and affects virtually the entire West African sub-region.
You would recall that Hammani Tidjani was arrested in
Burkina Faso and he is a citizen of Niger Republic. He was residing in the
Republic of Benin and most of his criminal activities were perpetrated in
Nigeria. So, cases like these are usually not hastily adjudicated.
There are a lot of investigations that need to be tied
together to really get him convicted and that is what our investigators are
doing. And beyond that, the success of it all was that we were able to arrest
and bring him to justice and that is a big boost to the police that has fallen
under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun,”
he explained.
On the successful hosting of the West African Police Chiefs
Committee (WAPCCO) meeting held in Abuja between September 20 and 23, 2004,
Bada disclosed that the forum drew police chiefs from across the West African
sub-region formed a quorum where they deliberated on the security situation
within the sub-region and to align with the Interpol, the body responsible for overseeing the security
matter internationally.
On the security accord between Nigeria and Republic of
Benin, the commander admitted the growing increase in trans-border crimes which
he said informed the hosting of another meeting at the Force Annex
Headquarters, Kam Salem House, Moloney, Obalende, Lagos, during which the
Director-General of Police Nationale, Republic of Benin, Ale Ibraima Abassi led
a delegation to Nigeria on a rescue mission to the Inspector-General of Police,
Tafa Balogun about a couple of weeks ago so as to fully implement the joint
border accord.
As a way out, it was agreed by both police bosses to
immediately kick-start the joint border patrol since both sides have a total of
125 officers and men trained jointly in Nigeria and Republic of Benin purposely
for the task.
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