Usman Baba, inspector-general of police (IGP), says officers
who collude with lawyers of indicted persons to frustrate investigation
processes will be punished.
According to a statement on Tuesday by Olumuyiwa Adejobi,
spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the IGP made the pronouncement
in response to complaints about “indiscriminate petitions” requesting transfer
of case files from one unit to another.
The NPF said such petitions lead to duplication of
investigations and negatively affect criminal justice delivery.
He added that, as a result, the IGP has ordered a review of
investigative processes in the force.
“The Inspector-General
of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc(+), NPM, NEAPS, fdc, CFR, in a bid to
strengthen the criminal justice system and standardise investigation processes
in the Nigeria Police Force, has ordered a streamlining of all police
investigative processes to prevent duplication of investigation via
indiscriminate petitions and transfer of cases initiated by individuals and
groups who have been indicted in initial investigations as a way to frustrate
diligent investigation process and truncate criminal justice delivery,” the
statement reads.
“The IGP gave the directives while reviewing and dealing
with files/cases in response to complaints on indiscriminate transfers of cases
from Zonal/State Commands and other investigative units of the Force by
operatives of the Force Criminal Investigations Department, Force Intelligence
Bureau, and other Force Headquarters Based Investigation outfits under the
guise of re-investigation at the prompting of indicted parties.
“He stressed that the situation has often given rise to
parallel investigations by multiple units leading to conflicting arrests of
parties, and different outcomes even when such matters have been conclusively
investigated and charged to court.
“The
Inspector-General of Police has therefore warned that transfer or taking over
of cases from Commands/Formations to FHQ-based outfits must only be carried out
upon approval of a written petition to the IGP which will serve as authority
for any such action.
“The IGP equally appeals to members of the public to be on
the same page with the Police leadership in its bid to sanitise the process and
strengthen our criminal justice system.
“He has similarly warned that officers found culpable of
colluding with lawyers of, or indicted parties to abuse police investigative
process will be sanctioned accordingly.”
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