Police recover N2.75m bribe from ACP

Adelani Adepegba, Abuja

The Complaint Response Unit of the Nigeria Police Force has resolved 324 cases out of a total of 405 complaints made against the police by members of the public between July 1 and September 30, 2016.

Fifty-one cases reported during the period were found to be false while 30 cases are pending, a report released on Thursday in Abuja by th

e Officer in charge of the CRU, Acting ACP Abayomi Shogunle, stated.

The CRU said it recovered N2.75m bribe from an Assistant Commissioner of Police, serving in one of the state commands in the South-East, after a complaint was made to the unit through a telephone call.

The police stated that the money was recovered from the ACP after the case was referred to the X-Squad for necessary action in line with the directive by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, that the X-Squad be integrated into the CRU responding agents.

Findings indicated that the errant senior officer had been referred to the Police Service Commission for disciplinary action.

The report stated, “Record shows that the sum of N2.750m bribe was recovered from an Assistant Commissioner of Police, serving in one of the state commands after a complaint was made to the CRU through a telephone call.

“Necessary disciplinary procedures are ongoing against the officer involved in the unacceptable conduct just as the suspect arrested in respect of the case, upon which the bribe money was collected, has since been handed over to the relevant government agency for prosecution for the offence.”

The CRU report stated that Rivers State Police Command topped the state ranking with a total number of 78 cases followed by Lagos with 72 cases and the Federal Capital Territory with 48 cases.

The third quarter report further shows that over half of the complaints against the police came from four state commands – Rivers, Lagos, FCT and Anambra – which accounted for 55.06 per cent of complaints during the period under review.

No single complaint was reported against the police in six state commands – Bauchi, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Osun and Sokoto.

“Kebbi State remains the only command with no complaint made against the police since the inception of the CRU in November, 2015,” it stated.

The CRU said professional misconduct was the leading complaint against police officers with 154 entries followed by demands for money for bail with 144 entries.

It added that complaints were received via telephone calls (294 cases); WhatsApp (55); Twitter (20); email (19); Facebook (six); SMS (two); BBM (one); and eight cases reported via petitions and media publications.