The release of CSP Dickson Adeyemi from the force headquarters in Abuja is still causing ripples in Delta State as stakeholders in the state have continued to express worry over the action of the hierarchy of the Nigerian Police Force.
CSP Dickson who is the head of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Delta State Police Command and five other police officers were arrested earlier this year and taken to Abuja on allegations of their involvement in cases of kidnappings in the state.
They were recently released for what the force called lack of evidence against them. CSP Dickson was redeployed to the state.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who expressed concern over the release of the suspects, said their release coincided with the resurgence of kidnapping in the state.
Speaking while playing host to the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, the governor stated there was a drastic reduction in the incidence of kidnapping during the period when the suspects were under detention in Abuja, stressing that soon after their release the crime has peaked.
He said that Deltans have been agitated by the development and were requesting that the matter be re-visited and thoroughly investigated to ensure that justice was done.
“The people of Delta State want me to send a message to you on recent happening in the state and even the State House of Assembly deliberated on it. Few days ago some persons, your police officers, suspected to be involved in kidnapping who were earlier apprehended, were released.
“What is bothering us is that their release coincided with therecent upsurge in kidnap cases in the state…So we want you to have a second look at that issue,” he noted.
Members of the state House of Assembly had on Tuesday adopted a motion calling on the President Goodluck Jonathan to direct the IGP to order the re-arrest of Dickson and re-open the investigation of the allegations leveled against him.
The lawmakers had argued that Dickson was “inexplicably released” following the alleged intervention of the chairman, Police Service Commission (PSC), Mr. Parry Osayande whom they described as the father-in-law to the anti-kidnapping Czar.
But the police boss at a stakeholders’ meeting in Asaba defended the recall and redeployment of CSP Dickson, explaining that the suspect was exonerated due to lack of concrete evidence against him after a painstaking investigation.
“We have investigated. We didn’t found any evidence against the police officer. I want to be fair and just to everybody, I don’t want to prosecute anyone because they say someone is a thief and there are no evidences to prove that actually that person is a thief. If you have that evidence against that police officer that we could use to prosecute him, please bring forward to us such evidence,” the IG stated.
He had earlier told the governor that the vision and mission of police management under his leadership was “to build a people-friendly police force that will not harass Nigerians, a police force that will say bail is free and is free.”
He said efficiency was the keyword for the police in discharging its constitutional responsibility, hinting that corruption has been reduced by80% in the police since the removal of road blocks.
Abubakar assured Nigerians of their safety in the wake of daunting security challenges, pointing out that in keeping with his vision of transforming the image of the police, hoodlums engaged in criminality, including attacks on police stations and bankers, were being arrested nationwide.
