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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Monday, June 14, 2004.
Death threat on police chiefs baseless, says FHQ
By Chris Agbambu,
Deputy
Bureau Chief, Abuja
Police
authorities on Sunday calmed frayed nerves and urged Nigerians to
disregard the threat letter of assassination written to their top brass.
They described those behind the plot as faceless and “wasting their time” because the
officers they have set their sights on “cannot be toyed with”.
Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP) Chris Olakpe, Force Public Relations
Officer, said in an interview that none of the names listed in the letter
could be identified in police.
Police rank and
file and inspectors at the weekend resorted to writing letters of threat
of assassination to those they believe are retarding their progress.
In the letter,
purportedly signed by Inspector Kelechi Oche (Chairman) and sergeant
Ejiofor Ukun (Secretary), the group vowed to assassinate Police Inspector
General (IG) Tafa Balogun, Police Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Simon
Okeke and Police Affairs Minister Broderick Bozimo from August 1 if their
demands are not met.
Okeke, however,
has warned that the government would deal decisively with any policeman
who flouts his or her oath of office. He said “any policeman who is not
prepared to display diligence in the service is advised to resign, as the
consequence of disloyalty in the force is grave”.
According to him,
the aggrieved police officers requested in the letter a resolution of a
six-point demand within three months, which expires at the end of July,
and threatened that if after the deadline their problems are not
addressed, their targets should either resign or face assassination.
The group said
they have discovered that a national strike would not solve their
problems, rather they would carry out secret killings from August 1.
The officers
claimed that their representatives met in Enugu where they decided to
issue the threats.
The group
demanded, among others, promotion without delay of every rank and file
who has served 20 years or more. They also requested:
• That police
salary scale be reversed to that of government level and arrears be paid
from the date police salary scale (PSS) was introduced for rank and file
and inspectors.
• And that all
rank and file and inspectors dismissed during the 2004 police strike be
recalled and arrears of salary paid to them.
But Okeke
insisted that the government could not be intimidated by the antics of a
few disgruntled elements in the police as the authorities have the
capacity to handle the situation.
He warned that
“government benevolence” should not be mistaken for weakness and that
those behind the threat would soon be fished out and dealt with.
According to him,
the screening of the rank and file and inspectors now going on would
identify the black legs, adding: “There are procedures for channeling of
grievances in the public service which must be adhered to by any
aggrieved policeman”.
Supporting the
view, Olakpe insisted that those behind the letter are wasting their time
by threatening Balogun. “The
IG is loved by the police force and all Nigerians and we should discard
such moves as an empty threat. But if they should try anything funny,
they will see fire for fire”, he said.
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