SECURITY ALERT WITH JIDE

IG orders security for Unity Schools

Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has directed zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police to protect Unity Schools and Federal Government Colleges in their areas.

The development may not be unconnected with the killing of two pupils of the Federal Government College, Kano by gunmen on Monday.

But the FGC Vice-Principal (Admin), Mrs Elizabeth, and Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, who confirmed the attacks, said the pupils were not killed within the school premises.

Mba assured parents of the safety of their pupils at both Unity Schools and FGCs.

He said the Police therefore wish to appeal to all users and subscribers of social media and other forms of mass media to exercise restraint and display high sense of responsibility, particularly when such information touches on issues of national security.

“Moreso, we wish to advise members of the public to always cross check their information with the police authorities before going to the press in order to avoid spreading fears and other psychological trauma associated with such false stories.”

According to him, the police are committed to the protection of lives and property. He called for the support and collaboration of all Nigerians towards the realisation of the constitutional goal of the police.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission has said unless the Nigerian Police Force is allowed to be independent of the Presidency, the idea of reforming the police will remain a mirage.

Chairman of the commission, Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, said this in a keynote address he delivered during a Civil Society Organisation panel on police reform on Tuesday .

He said in one sentence the fate of the NPF is too important to be left to government and officialdom alone. Civil Society has an unmistakable stake in what happens to the institution.

Under the constitution, the President is also actually our Chief of Police. But the President is also a party animal and a politician.”


Fake Customs officer dupes woman of N1.2m

A fake Customs officer, Mr. Adeoye Olatunji, has allegedly duped a woman, Mrs. Olatundun Lawal, of N1.2m.

Lawal had approached Olatunji to help her secure a job for her son at Nigeria Customs Service.

The Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, Kalafite Adeyemi, who paraded the suspect at the police headquarters, Oke-Fia, Osogbo, said Olatunji had confessed to the crime.

Lawal said she was introduced to Olatunji by Pastor Ajeigbe Abiodun, adding that she paid the money into an account given by the suspect.

The police commissioner said the woman did not know that the account provided by the suspect was his.

It was learnt that after the payment, repeated calls made to the suspect’s telephone by the woman were not answered, prompting the woman to use an unknown number to call him.

The police chief said Olatunji was arrested in Inisha where he was hiding.

Meanwhile, the CP has advised parents and guardians to be wary of entrusting their female children to unknown caregivers, saying this would curb the incidence of rape.

500 Policemen Get Anti-Bomb Training

A total of 500 policemen have undergone training to beef up the Nigeria Police anti-bomb unit, otherwise known as Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Command.

In the period under review, the command  uncovered about 45 Improvised Explosive Devises (IED) across the country, 30 of which were professionally defused and rendered ineffective while 15 were identified and neutralised.

The command embarked on bomb threat awareness lecture for members of the public basically on Improvised Explosive Devices(IEDs) components and bomb identification and response techniques. This is to ensure the protection of lives and property of the people.

According to the Commissioner of Police in charge of B Department of the Anti-Bomb Command, Ikeja, Lagos, Foluso Adebanjo, “the support, commitment and initiatives of the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, have made our duty less cumbersome and enhanced our productivity.

One of such initiatives is the approval for the training and mobilisation of additional 500 policemen,100 of whom have been trained to beef up the unit workforce in states while another  EOD training  is set for additional 200 policemen starting this month”.

Adebanjo, therefore, urged members of the public to report to the police, any suspicious objects found anywhere or reasonably suspected to be an explosive, warning that such objects should not be tampered with.

He assured the public of the command’s efforts to check the misuse of IEDs in the society.


6 Killed In Kano

Gunmen have shot dead six persons at Rimin Kebe in Tudun Murtala, Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano.

The incident, which happened at about 10 p.m. on Monday, left many others seriously injured.

The witness said the suspected gunmen stormed the area with a Honda Civic car.

The witness said the victims were sitting in front of a house when the gunmen opened fire on them and zoomed off.

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Rilwanu Dutse, confirmed the incident.

He, however, said only three persons were killed during the incident.

“The incident happened between 9.30 p.m and 10 p.m on Monday and three persons were killed.

Rilwanu said that investigation had since commenced while security had been beefed up in the area.

Meanwhile, the state police command denied a report on the attack of Government Secondary School Yar’tofa in Warawa Local Government Area of the state.

Gang War: Ebute Meta Residents Send SOS To LASG, CP

For what they described as unwarranted loss of lives and property resulting from frequent clashes between rival groups, residents of Otumara/Ilaje, Ifesowapo, Otto central, Atitebi, Ilogbo Otto extension and Iyagan Community Development Associations in Ebute Meta, Lagos,  have appealed to Lagos State Government and the state Commissioner of Police to come to their rescue.

The residents said their lives and property are no longer safe as a result of incessant clashes by street urchins(area boys) in the area.

Chairman of Iyagan Peace and Progress Community Development Association, Odafe O.Ogun, said: “We are not Somalia, neither are we in war in the country. It is alarming that we have been under siege, and anytime any of them is arrested by the police, he gets released before you know it.

“We want the state government to set up an investigation panel and summon all traditional and political leaders in the area to a meeting where they should be made to sign an undertaken, as a way to end the clashes .”

Chairman, Ifesowapo Community Development Association, Comrade Agbodemu Ishola, stated that the communities, in an attempt to curtail the activities of the street urchins, engaged a vigilance group, a measure he said has not achieved the desired result.

He said: “As part of our effort, the six CDAs came together to employed vigilantes and this has given us a little respite but the area boys have resorted to attacking the men and if anyone of them is arrested, before we know it, some moneybags would get them released.

Agbodemu attributed the frequent clashes among the area boys to the quest for supremacy, adding that the clashes also have political undertone, as politicians in the area engage the area boys to settle scores with their opponents.

He corroborated Ogun’s words by appealing to state government to summon all politicians and traditional chiefs and make them sign an undertaken as a way to restore peace in the area.

It was gathered that from last October to date, more than 10 persons have been killed while property worth millions of naira have been destroyed.