DISTURBED by instances of alleged violations of rights of members of the public by his officers and men which often lead to litigation and consequent award of damages against the police, the Inspector General of Police IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, has declared that any police man on account of whose actions such order is awarded would forfeit his entitlement and salary to offset the penalty.

Addressing officers and men of Plateau State Police Command in Jos yesterday, Arase said: “In the past three years we have got garnishee orders.

It is when they take us to court through your attitude, may be you dabble into areas which you are not competent to dabble into, you have detained people more than the period you are required to detain the persons and they take us to court. If they take us to court, two things happen.

Either we put up appearance and present facts of the case or we don’t put up appearance and they enter a default judgement against the police that translates into garnishee order.

“ So if they garnishee your salary account, at a particular month or year, the amount of money the Federal Government earmarks for your salary would have been tampered with, which means that you may not get your salary.”

He said in the past three years, the police had cases with garnishee order to the tune of N800 million arising from default judgment , adding that the large number of such orders is affecting the smooth running of Nigeria police and therefore needs to be checked.

According to him: “If I have that kind of money I can refurbish your headquarters. So henceforth, we have decided that if you trample on the rights of Nigerians and they take us to court and get garnishee order, we would start deducting that money from your salary until we are able to pay in full the indebtedness.”

The Inspector General of Police who said the operation of the police across the country is now open for accountability stated that the public have the right to know what is happening within the force to have the assurance that they can rely on the police and as well provide useful information.

“We are also opening up ourselves to public accountability. A police force that is accountable to the members of the public will operate very well. You cannot police the community without the mandate of the people you are policing. It is the people you need to give you information and if you start abridging their rights they would never respect you.”

Arase further warned men of the police to shun any form of corrupt practices that would tarnish the image of the police, adding that anyone found extorting money from members of the public will be dealt with.

Earlier, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nasiru Oki said the northern part of Plateau State is a hotspot in terms of crises arising from age-long conflicts between the native Berom and the Fulani, adding that his command and other security agencies are leaving no stone unturned to arrest the