From Nweke Nweke, Awka
Human Rights group, International Association of Human Rights Challenges, IAHRC, Nigeria Region has accused the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu of having commercialized the police Command through allowing bail fee to strive in all the units in the commad.
In a strong worded petition addressed to the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 9 Umuahia, Abia State, dated October 20, 2016, captioned: ‘Complaint on using police to recover debt, threat to life by the duos of Mrs. Virginia Okereke and her son’, the activists said they are not comfortable with what they tagged “unprofessional policing through arresting in proxy of one Ikenna Okafor, Mrs. Ngozi Iroanya and a-14-year-old Chima Iroanya by the State Criminal Investigation Bureau, SCIB, Imo State Police Command”.
According to the petition signed by one Mrs. Rachael Nweke which was made available to 247ureports.com, the group accused one Inspector Chris attached with SCIB, Owerri of having gone contrarily to the ethics of the police profession by refusing to transfer the case file to the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 9 Umuahia, Abia State but choose to carpet the directive of the AIG even as it was learned that the Inspector allegedly detained the suspects for over seventeen(17) working days.
The cause of the matter, according to reliable sources, came through a business transaction between one Kinsley Iroanya and Mrs. Virginia Okereke but when their transaction went sore, Mrs. Okereke is accused to have used her police connection to arrest the family members of her business partner on mere allegation that Mr. Iroanya defrauded her to the tune of Eight Hundred and Ten Thousand (810, 000. 00) only.
On receiving the petition from the human rights group, this reporter established contact with the Imo State Commissioner of Police through his GSM line, prevailing on him to use his good offices to release the innocent people arrested in proxy by the over zealous Inspector and his team, instead of the CP to act accordingly, he allowed the Inspector of police to allegedly reap the suspects’ relations dry through extorting thousands of Naira from them as bail fee.
On pressing harder to stop the police Inspector from extorting any amount of money from the relations of the suspects, the Inspector, according to the activists allegedly incarcerated the suspects, including the minor for seventeen days even to the full knowledge of the State Commissioner of Police and when the office of the Inspector General of Police was reached over the unprofessional conduct by the police in Imo State, they wickedly charged their prime suspect to Orlu Magistrate Court on fulvous charge of obtaining under false pretense as a way of washing off their hands in the allegation leveled against them the human rights group.
Threatening that they are heading to court of law t challenge the police command over the detention of the minor (master Chima Iroanya) inside the ‘hell on earth’ called Imo State Police Command Cell for seventeen days, the International Association of Human Rights Challenges, IAHRC, Nigeria Region, however called for the immediate sack of the Imo State first police man for not only carpeting the order of the AIG but for having allowed bail fee to strive in the Command under his control.
