HURIWA urges Tinubu to sanction leadership over alleged falsehood
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has directed Zone 2 Command, Lagos, to investigate officers who stopped a radio host, Henry Ogunbodede (popularly called WorldoBoBay EmmCee RNB), in commando style.
Ogunbodede was overtaken by the policemen who arrived in a white commercial bus, around 1004 Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos. They stopped him, asked him to open his door, and answer questions on why his glasses were tinted. They also asked for a permit that allowed him to use tinted glasses.
In a video, the three officers were without uniforms, and only one showed his identity card to the radio host. Narrating the incident, Ogunbodede said: “I noticed a white bus with no number plate following my car from Law School, all the way to 1004 Estate. The bus overtook my car, just in front of the traffic light, at the entrance of Oriental Hotel.
“My shock till now is that they didn’t have any form of identification. They only said they were undercover police officers from Zone 2 police station in VI. So, I couldn’t even tell if they were real or not.”
Reacting, police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said: “These police officers have been traced to Zone 2 and identified. The AIG, Zone 2, Lagos, is investigating.”
MEANWHILE, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked President Bola Tinubu to sanction security officials who allegedly spread falsehood.
In a statement by national coordinator of the group, Emmanuel Onwubiko, yesterday, HURIWA said a nation, whose political leadership accepts to live with blatant lies by security operatives and their commanders, is a nation that has not only failed but is an active crime scene. It accused the police high command of telling lies about the recent promotion of dozens of officers.
According to the group, the office of the Inspector-General of Police spread falsehood, saying the promotions were done by the Police Service Commission (PSC), whereas there is no validly recognised governing body of the PSC because only two persons are on its board, as over 98 per cent of the entire members had already served out their tenure.
HURIWA said: “For now, only Solomon Arase, the newly inaugurated chairman of PSC and the representative of the Southeast, Chief Onyemobi Nnamami, are valid members of PSC. ”
“In Imo State, the police have been caught lying regarding the recent high-profile kidnapping of a respected traditional ruler, Eze Samuel Ohiri, former chairman of the council of traditional rulers in Imo State, who said the police did not secure his freedom from kidnappers.
“The monarch was kidnapped from his residence in Orodo Mbaitoli Local Council of Imo State. He was released after 13 days in captivity.”
HURIWA lamented that the Imo Police Command lied by saying it secured Ohiri’s freedom, in collaboration with other security agencies, “when as we now have heard from the horse’s mouth, the police knew next to nothing about the release of this first-class traditional ruler, who has the courage to tell the truth and damn the consequences.”
It added: “The immediate implication of permitting top police officers to twist information on national security and present blatant lies as correct information is that, increasingly, the people would not trust the police anymore.”
