Ekweremadu’s invitation not political, say police

The Nigeria Police Force has explained that the recent invitation extended to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had nothing to do with politics.

Speaking to journalists shortly after addressing officers and men of the Bauchi State Police Command in Bauchi, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, declared that he was not a politician “and as such could not have been politically motivated in the alleged forgery investigation against the Deputy Senate President.”

Arase further stated that it is partly the duty of the police to investigate any case brought to them for clarification. He said Ekweremadu was being investigated by the police for allegedly altering the Senate Standing Rule on the process of electing principal officers, which is said to be a case of forgery that the police have a duty to investigate.

“One of the statutory duties of the police is to investigate any case brought before it. That is exactly what we are trying to do; to investigate a complaint that has been brought to us. I am a police officer in total, I am not a politician,” said Arase.

He stated that the police could not carry out their statutory responsibilities without the co-operation of the people.

He said he was in Bauchi not only to motivate officers and men of the command but to appeal to the people of Bauchi State that “we cannot do it alone as police force; that we require their cooperation and understanding for us to get credible information to fish out criminals who are in our midst.”

Arase declared that the idea of keeping suspects in detention on trump up charges was not acceptable under a democratic set up, promising that the police would only keep people in custody when it is absolutely necessary.

“A suspect can only be kept under 48 hours under the law, depending on the nature of the offence. There are certainly offences that under our Nigerian law, the police are not competent enough to grant bail. I give an example of homicide, robbery cases and terrorist cases. In those cases, you have to charge the suspect to court, and often the platform is the high court,” he said.