Bail remains free – Police

The Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 6, Abubakar Marafa, has re-affirmed that bailing of suspects remains free.

Marafa said this in on Tuesday in Abakaliki when he visited the Ebonyi police command, which is one of the commands under the zone.

“There should not be any form of payment for bail as the Inspector-General of Police has mandated that this instruction should be carried to the latter,” he said.

According to the AIG, the ban on road blocks nationwide is still in place, as no police check point should be seen on the road.

“I have received many cases of loss of firearms and any officer who is careless with this will be punished.

“The concerned case would be reviewed and anyone found guilty will be charged to court and be made to pay for the government property he lost.

“Police personnel should place their rifles on guard so that it would be well protected and secured.

“The rights of the citizens should also be protected as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

The AIG directed that officers should henceforth not be posted singularly for duties but posted in numbers.

“We should post more men at night duties than women because most women are married and have dependents to cater for during such periods.

“You should use your phones regularly to call patrol teams and higher officials to enable them arrive at crime scenes on time to check such incidences,” he said.

He said that the Federal Government would soon deploy gunboats to secure the riverine area of Afikpo.

“The Inspector General of Police and his management with assistance of Federal Government, will by God’s grace inaugurate the Marine Police College in Bayelsa soon,’’ Marafa said.

Gov. David Umahi commended the police for adopting proactive measures in securing the state, noting that it has restored the confidence of the people in the force.

“We want you to look at the issue of arrests in the state especially from the Police Headquarters in Abuja, necessitated by petitions from individuals.

“The police have an organogram which runs from the state commands to the headquarters, but it is regrettable that when petitions are written about people, no one bothers to substantiate the petition.

“The arrests by the police from the headquarters especially put the lives of people at risk, both those making the arrest and the ones being arrested.

“People can hide under such guise to perpetrate evil, so we plead that the police organogram be strictly followed in the interest of the citizens,” he said.

He also urged the police to ensure that before any case goes to the zone, it should be a situation where the petitioner is not satisfied with the way the Commissioner of Police handled it.

“The same process should then be observed before the case goes to the police headquarters as this would restore confidence in the Force,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the AIG also interacted with officers in the command where they asked questions bordering on their welfare.

NAN reports that the Police zone six comprised Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River.