Proscription order on peace corps still in force, police insist 

Police authorities yesterday said the order proscribing the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) in the country was still in force. 

A Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice John Tsoho, had on Monday ordered the Nigerian Police to unseal Peace Corps of Nigeria head office in Jabi, Abuja.

He also ordered the police and other security agencies that have laid siege to the premises to vacate immediately and hand over possession of the Peace Corps office.

Besides, the police said it had already filed a stay of execution at the Court of Appeal and it is still pending at the appellate Court.

A statement by Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Jimoh Moshood in Abuja, yesterday while reacting to the court judgment said: “The attention of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has been drawn to innuendos and misinformation in some media reports on the closure of the Peace Corps of Nigeria office in Jabi, Abuja.

The statement reads: “The Force wishes to inform the general public that the order proscribing the existence and operations of Peace Corps of Nigeria is still in force in the country.

“It is incumbent on the NPF to inform the public that on February 28, 2017, the NPF officers in a joint operation military and the Department of State Service (DSS) personnel embarked on an operation to halt and rid the country of illegal security outfits constituting national security threats.”

The police said in 2013, Federal Republic of Nigeria official gazette dissolved and proscribed illegal security outfits such as Nigerian Maritime Security Agency (NMSA), Nigerian Merchant Navy Corps (NMNC), the Nigerian Merchant Navy Petroleum Security and Safety (NMNPSS), Peace Corps of Nigeria and other illegal security outfits.

“However, it has been observed that some of the proscribed illegal security outfits and the Peace Corps are still operating outside the mandates and purposes for which they were registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC),” it stated.

Moshood explained that it was in furtherance of the above that the Nigeria Police, the Military and DSS in a joint security operation entered the Peace Corps head office on February 28 last year, sealed off the building and arrested Akor Dickson and 49 others for investigation in the interest of public safety and security.