Kogi State police command has detained four of its officers who allegedly behaved like “armed robbers” as displayed in a trending video clip on WhatsApp platforms.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba had earlier today, October 17, ordered an investigation into the matter, which reportedly took place today.
The officers, ASP Isah Barnabas, Inspector Ifediegwu Godwin, Sgt Emmanuel Ochima and CPL Umameh Mathias, where shown in the video as forcing a passenger on Okene-Adogo road in Kogi State to withdraw N25,000 from an ATM for them.
The video which went viral in other social media, showed that the officers removed their uniforms, changed into civilian dress and march their victim, who was said not to have committed any offence, to the nearby ATM where they forced him to withdraw the amount.
The person who did the video gave his name as John Akinfehinwa. He showed one of the police officers shouting on top of his voice, menacingly displaying his gun.
The video maker claimed that another person who was a fellow traveller was physically assaulted by one of the men in uniform.
In a statement immediately, the spokesman of the Force Headquarters, Abuja, Frank Mba, quoted the IGP as having ordered investigation into the matter, even as the Kogi State Police Command commenced investigations.
A statement by the Kogi Police Public Relations Officer, DSP William Ovye Aya said the State Commissioner of Police, CP Idrisu Dauda Dabban, condemned the incident.
He confirmed that the officers involved have been identified and detained at the State Criminal Investigations Department.
“The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) has been issued an official query while the three other junior officers are currently undergoing orderly room trial (Police internal disciplinary actions).”
The statement said that the Command is doing its best to establish contact with the victims. He enjoined the victims to reach out to the Command thorough 08107899269.
He assured that any of the officers found wanting in the investigations would be dealt with accordingly.
The officers, who are attached to Adogo Division were on patrol duty along Adogo-Okene road at the time the incidence happened.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that a half million women, men and children in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states are at risk of starvation as its funding for the region dries up.
In a statement, the global agency said it might soon be forced to cut food rations except it secured urgent funding to continue its life-saving operations in the crisis hotspot.
The region had been a mainstay of insurgency attacks for over a decade and the situation had been worsened by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising high food prices, the WFP said.
The UN agency also said the number of internally-displaced persons surpassed two million in September.
“Cutting rations means choosing who gets to eat and who goes to bed hungry. We are seeing funding for our life-saving humanitarian work dry up just at the time when hunger is at its most severe,” said Chris Nikoi, WFP’s Regional Director for West Africa following a recent visit to Nigeria.
The WFP, which won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2020, said it required at least $55 million in a matter of weeks to avoid cutting food aid.
“Our food assistance is a lifeline for millions whose lives have been upended by conflict and have almost nothing to survive on. We must act now to save lives and avoid disruptions to this lifeline,” Nikoi added.
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said cutting food assistance “will be a painful decision for humanitarians as it will negatively affect children, women and men uprooted from their homes due to continued violence.
“As we call upon our partners to step up their support in response to the growing needs, I would like to say thank you to those who have stood with us over the years in providing the much-needed humanitarian assistance in the country.”
According to its Friday statement, the WFP said it had “provided life-saving food and nutrition assistance to severely food insecure people, displaced families in camps, and to vulnerable people living in host communities thanks to generous contributions from Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the United States of America, and private donors.
“This year, relying on the continued generosity of donor partners, WFP ramped up its response to address rising food insecurity and the impact of COVID-19, targeting 1.9 million displaced people in Nigeria with life-saving food assistance.
“To sustain humanitarian operations in northeast Nigeria until March 2022, WFP urgently requires USD 197 million.”

A renowned religious leader in Nigeria, Pastor Tunde Bakari has said that having pastored a church for 33 years and created new leaders, he would now concentrate on nation building, probably as President if he is called by God to lead

“Every Nigerian, who is of age and who is not disqualified by any means, is free. I’m a nation builder, if God wants me to do that, and the people of Nigeria will appreciate that, why not? (I will be President).

” I’m as free as anybody to do anything with my time. I’ve pastored a church for 33 years, now we raise new leaders. I want to focus on nation building.”

Pastor Bakari, who had a chat with newsmen today, October 15, at the presidential villa, Abuja shortly after a private audience with President Muhammadu Buhari, admitted that since the Office of the President is only one, there are so many other things he can do as person to support whoever is there to make sure that he doesn’t go into retrogression, but begin to make steady progress .

“I have already communicated clearly, my future plans to Mr. President, and it stays between us.”

Pastor Bakari, who clearly does not favour the idea of rotating presidency amongst the regions of the country, said: “it is our immaturity, politically and otherwise, that makes us say power must either be in the North or be in the South, instead of looking for the best, the fittest, the most competent, and people of character, who love this nation.

“If where the President comes from will make the place he has come from to be better, the Northern part of Nigeria should be richest and should be the most progressive and the most developed because out of 61 years, the north has produced either the president or heads of state for 40 to 41 years and yet, see the retrogression in the North.

“If it is from the South, why should a person like President Obasanjo freeze and seize the account of Lagos State in his own tenure? If it’s from South-South or Southeast why couldn’t President Jonathan use all his powers to develop South-South/Southeast?

“Not where they come from, it’s what they carry and what they have to offer. May the best of the best of Nigerians rise, whether they are from the East, from the West, from the North or from the South.

“If there are agreements between politicians among themselves on rotation, a bargain is a bargain. That is between them. But as far as this country is concerned, what we need at this stage is man who can drive us to the Eldorado.”

The Pastor said that one of the best things the present National Assembly has done, especially the Senate, is the legislation on electric voting.

According to him,  with that, Nigerians can vote and then results can be transmitted so easily. “Not only that, part of the State of the nation address that I did on October 10, I emphasised how Nigeria youth, especially undergraduates, are disenfranchised in our country.

“22.3 million students are registered, but during election, campuses are shut, they will not be able to return there to vote, therefore disenfranchised. If we can do not just transmitting results, but to be able to vote electronically, that will be wonderful. It will deepen and enhance our democracy.

“Not only that, the Diaspora sends above $25 billion to Nigeria. “Nigeria in Diaspora should also be able to vote like they do in every other country in the world. The more the merrier.

“Yes, democracy is a game of number, but our people should have the final say, so the office of the citizen must be as important, if not more than the office of the governor or the president because they are the people who put them in power. Sovereignty still lies in the hands of the people of Nigeria.”