Daily Independent Online.
*
Thursday, July 01, 2004.
Ige
murder: IG replies trial judge
By Chris Agbambu
Deputy Bureau Chief, Abuja
Police high command on Wednesday said the force would
not join issues with Justice Akinola Sanda of the Oyo State High Court who
criticised it for alleged shoddy investigations while discharging Senator
Iyiola Omisore last Friday on changes of
conspiring to murder Chief Bola Ige, former Justice Minister, three
years ago.
The Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun who was
answering questions from newsmen on Wednesday, after addressing a world press
conference on the “security situation in Nigeria,” said the attack
was his personal view, which the force wishes to reserve its comment.
He said the police did not prosecute the case,
because the Oyo State government was engaged to handle the case.
Balogun
also warned that signals have been sent to all police commands that no
policeman, who is on mufti should be allowed to handle arms on the highway.
According to him, henceforth police commissioners
will be hold responsible, as it will now be vicarious liability to give arms to
policemen in mufti on the highways.
Speaking on the state of security in the country,
Balogun disclosed that the massive onslaught against armed banditry and other
violent crimes resulted in the arrest of 678 armed robbery suspects between
January and June, 466 armed robbers killed in combat, 690 arms and 110,818
ammunitions received, 188 vehicles recovered while 38 policemen were killed
during the period under review.
On Hammani Tidjani, Balogun disclosed that additional
12 vehicles, 25 firearms were recovered while 18 more suspects were arrested,
adding that this has brought to a total of 113 recovered vehicles from them out
of about 205 traced to neighboring countries.
Balogun added that police chiefs from Benin, Chad,
Cameroun, Niger Republic and Nigeria would meet very soon to ratify true
operational arrangements at a date that would be made public and assured that
the special joint border patrol would become operational September 1.
The task force on recovering illegal firearms has so
far recovered 307 weapons, 106,18 ammunition, while 101 persons were arrested
and 38 killed in operation, Balogun said.
On the recoveries made from March 14, he said a total
of 1,972 weapons and 111,582 ammunitions were recovered, 190 persons arrested,
73 killed while 19 policemen were injured and 12 also killed.
Speaking on the vandalisation of oil pipeline and
bunkering, the police boss, said 64 people were arrested between April -
June 2004, while cumulative successes showed that 221 cases of vandalisation
were reported, 72 suspects arrested and charged to court, 67 awaiting trial and
12 discharged by court for want of evidence.
On the Kwande local government crisis in Benue State,
Tafa said 12 persons were killed, five arrested and 50 huts destroyed, and
advised government to continue to seek political solutions to the recurrent
ethnic and religious crises that are threatening the unity and stability of the
country.
