A rights group, the Rule of Law And Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has urged the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command, Mr. Isaac Akinmoyede, to conduct an audit of personnel in order flush out corrupt and abusive officers to sanitise the command as the bad eggs are giving the command a bad image

The group said that while it is imperative that the Imo State police boss ensures a prompt, impartial and effective investigation into the tragedy at the Banana Junction in Orlu town of Imo State on Tuesday where a police inspector shot dead a 27-year-old man for not wearing a face mask, the CP must also bear in mind that the climate of impunity that allowed that killing to happen must be addressed. “Such reckless and unprofessional actions are motivated by corruption and facilitated by impunity which must be addressed.” RULAAC said in a statement signed by the Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma.

“The CP Imo State needs to urgently carry out an audit of police officers of all levels in the command, identify those who have predilection for corruption and abuse and who have been subject of numerous complaints of abuse, including senior officers who condone or justify corruption, abuse and misconduct. The CP must ensure that such officers who dent the reputation of the NPF are identified, isolated and appropriately dealt with in accordance with police regulations and Nigeria law,” the rights group said.

It noted that it and other human rights advocacy groups have intervened in a number of cases since the advent of Covid-19 pandemic which prompted the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to issue directives to police officers to restrict arrest and detention based on the gravity of offences, to decongest the cells and minimise visits and invitations to police stations as part of social distancing protective measures to reduce crowding and physical contacts in police stations.

“But these directives and the subsequent guidelines issued by the IGP have been observed largely in breach in Imo State,” the statement revealed.

Listing some of the infractions by the police to which the rights group intervened, the statement gave the following account.

“We will illustrate with few cases where we have had to intervene:

“On Monday, April 20, 2020, Action Group Legal Helpline, a group of CSO groups (of which RULAAC is a member) working collectively to provide legal support and assistance to victims of abuse by law enforcement agencies involved in the enforcement of the lockdown across states in Nigeria received information concerning the arrest of one Mr. Benjamin Ibezim.

“Mr. Ibezim was arrested when he stepped out the previous night to look for a vehicle to take his pregnant wife to the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Owerri. He was detained at the State CID, Owerri.

“The group received the information later the next day, and put phone calls across to the then Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command and the Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), SP Ikeokwu Godson Orlando seeking the release of Mr. Ibezim.

“However, in the process of investigating the group’s complaints concerning the arrest and detention of Mr. Ibezim, the officer assigned by the CP to investigate discovered that there were five other persons together with Mr. Ibezim in the cell arrested under similar circumstances. We made efforts to get them released as well.

“The Police PRO went there personally and passed the CP’s directive to the officers to release them all. As soon as the PRO left, they released only Mr. Ibezim, but asked the remaining persons to pay N50,000 each.

“We were informed that some even negotiated N15, 000 and the officers refused. The five others remained in detention for more days in violation of both the IGP's directives and their constitutional rights. They were only released days after, after the payment of various sums in bribe.”

This case, RULAAC said, is only illustrative of what is the norm rather than the exception in Imo State Police Headquarters and other stations under the command.