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NEWS > 05 October 2007

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Kidnapper cop fired
A former Montreal cop who used a fake arrest warrant to kidnap a 19-year-old woman has been officially fired by the police ethics committee.

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 Article sourced from

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The Tide - Port Harcourt,Niger
05 October 2007
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Nigeria: Curbing corruption in

On assumption of office in June this year, the newly appointed Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Mike Okiro in his maiden speech had admonished officers and men of the force against certain negative practices that tended to tarnish their image.

One of the main highlights of the speech was the illegal checkpoints and the use of such to collect tolls from motorists. He categorically warned that henceforth such conduct would no longer be condoned. He also used the occasion to caution against collection of bail fees and engaging in other unauthorised acts or that culprits should be ready to face severe sanctions.

It does appear that whenever such threat is made, members of the force become more emboldened in perpetrating corruption and thereby flagrantly disobeying such warnings to the chagin of the citizens and the authorities.

The unrepentant attitude of the Police towards collecting money at numerous checkpoints in Port Harcourt has now become a hydra headed problem that needs to be curbed by all means.

Commercial bus drivers and motorcyclists have at various times complained bitterly over the activities of the policemen who compel them to part with hard earned money at every checkpoint without reason.

The situation as one commercial bus driver puts it, has become worse since the soldiers were deployed to the streets of Port Harcourt to rid the city of hoodlums who hitherto terrorised and destabilised it in a senseless war of supremacy among cult groups.

“Since then we have been made to compulsorily part with between fifty and hundred naira as against twenty naira previously whenever we go through a checkpoint manned by policemen”, he said.

The most annoying aspect, according to the source, is that when the criminals hold sway in the city, the police hardly rose to the challenge of containing the cultists and restoring law and order.

The job of curbing the mayhem that recently befell the state capital in normal circumstance, should be the schedule of the police, but they failed in that assignment which saw some police stations sacked and closed down during the period. But for the timely deployment of soldiers to curb the situation and restore peace, one wonders if they would be in a position to maintain these illegal checkpoints which they once deserted to mandatorily collect tolls as they do now.

As another commercial bus diver simply called Osheri says, “The police for Port Harcourt dey carry gun only for bus drivers and Okadamen, when dem see bad boys, dem run.”

Last Friday, commercial bus dirvers had to withdraw their vehicles from the various routes in Port Harcourt in protest over the continuous harassment and extortion of bus drivers by the police.

They argued that they were not responsible for the state of insecurity recently experienced in the state as to be made escape-goats of harassment and intimidation by the policemen.

Really, what the police needs to do now is a thorough re-orientation on combat readiness and up-grading of their capacity to contain skirmishes like the one posed by our last experience with cultists. It greatly exposed the inadequacies of our policemen as ill-trained bunch of men whose major interest in enrolling into the force is to make quick money.

The entire workforce of the rank and file has to be reviewed in a way to ensure that only those who are ready to perform are left in service and fully equipped and motivated to carry on the duty of policing.

Also, the unit charged with the responsibility of monitoring and ensuring that serving policemen comply with the norms of their profession must be men of impeccable and transparent character who cannot easily be bought over or intimidated, if we must fight and win the war against corruption in the police force.

The public too has a role to play in this direction by refusing to ‘play ball’ whenever unethical demands are made by the policemen even in conditions of taking someone on bail.

It is unfortunate that despite the fact that all IGs, past and present, vowed to deal with the perpetrators of corruption in the force, it has continued unabated. This is the time to deal with the perennial disease of illegal extortions by the police and all hands must be on deck, especially now that we have a federal administration that has zero tolerance for corrupt practices.

Perhaps, it is time we referred the issue of corruption in the police force to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation and decisive action.
 

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