By Aherhoke Okioma
The Bayelsa Police Command at the weekend bemoaned the dearth of proper detention facilities to hold suspects apprehended in its efforts at combating crime.
Asuquo Amba, Bayelsa Police Commissioner said in an interview that the police was making do with overcrowded makeshift cells, adding that he had even deployed his personal resources to provide an armoury for the command.
Amba explained that the pace of prosecuting suspects in the state was too slow and hence compeles the limited police detention facilities for holding suspected criminals to be overstretched.
According to him the building housing the Police headquarters used to be a party secretariat built in the SDP-NRC days and later improvised to serve the accommodation needs of the police.
Amba was reacting to Thursday’s attempted escape by detainees at the State Criminal Investigation Division headquarters barely three weeks after 10 suspects escaped from the Special Anti Robbery Squad facility also in Yenagoa.
Amba who had confirmed the attempted escape of detainees said the incident occurred in broad daylight when the suspects were taking their bathe.
He said that the suspects in the cell had overpowered the policeman who had come to open the burglar proof for them, explaining that what saved the day was the outer gate which was still under lock at the time of the attempted bid.
“The prompt alertness of other policemen around the area saved the situation. None of the suspects escaped but the fact of the matter is that we do not have proper detention facilities.
“It is a make-shift arrangement, an office with burglary proof; we were lucky to have averted this one but that does not mean that it will not happen again.
“The suspects can still plan another one, we desperately need to build proper detention facilities to hold suspects”, he said.
Amba said the makeshift facilities were overstretched and that this could be attributed to the slow pace of justice dispensation in the state.
He regretted that it was frustrating that the state government was not forthcoming, providing the command with a well fortified and secured cells to hold suspects.
According to him, not only had they written to the state government about the matter, they had equally engaged the judiciary on the imperatives of expedited justice delivery.
“The dearth of facilities here is hampering our efforts at policing the state, we are having the slowest judicial process in the entire south south zone.
“The number of cases awaiting advice and prosecution by the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) is alarming and I have drawn the attention of state authorities to this as well, ” Amba said.
It would be recalled that on November 7, about 10 suspects detained at the Special Anti Robbery Squad facility in Yenagoa had escaped, with the police command succeeding in rearresting three.
However, a reliable source did say that the number of escapees quoted were low; but that about 42 suspected armed robbers and cult members broke free and escaped from the facility.
“The cell holds more than 50 suspects but it is empty, so it is difficult to give an accurate number”, the source said.
Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Commissioner for Information in Bayelsa declined to speak on the development.
He said in a text message requesting him to clear the air on the state of police facilities in view of Bayelsa Government’s claim that it has invested massively in security, that he was not in a position to speak at the moment.
The state government had in February 2017 obtained a loan to among other things, provide operational vehicles and sundry hardware to security agencies in the state.
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