“Under Barde, scores of citizens were arrested, most of them arbitrarily, and illegally detained in police cells in some notorious police Units in Imo State Police Command,” the CSOs said.
By Jeffrey Agbo
A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has called for sanctions against Commissioner of Police (CP), Mohammed Barde, following his role in the governorship election in Adamawa State and actions as CP in Imo State.
The CSOs made the call in a joint statement on Monday. They wondered why Barde is still CP in Imo State despite the Police Service Commission (PSC) approving the deployment of Stephen Olarewaju as new Imo CP as far back as June 30.
Their statement reads, “On Friday June 30th, 2023, the Police Service Commission (PSC) approved the appointment and deployment of eight Commissioners of Police to various state police commands in the country.
“The newly appointed Commissioners of Police included Stephen Olarewaju, as new CP Imo State Command to replace Barde.
“A statement by the Commission said the postings were as recommended by the acting Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun.
“All the newly deployed Commissioners of Police appointed for the various State Commands have since assumed duties in their respective new commands except the new CP for Imo.
“Curiously, the former CP Imo, Mr. Barde who was recently queried by the office of the IGP and still facing investigation for his discreditable role in compromising election security and sabotaging the electoral process in the Adamawa governorship election remains in Imo.
“It is unclear why Mr. Barde still remains in Imo despite his replacement as he faces investigation for gross misconduct. There are however, rumors that the governor of Imo State, Mr. Hope Uzodinma wants to have Mr. Barde retained in Imo to have him ‘supervise’ the forthcoming November 2023 gubernatorial election in Imo for him.
“Besides Mr. Barde’s disgraceful conduct in Adamawa, his tenure as CP Imo State has been characterised by incompetence, partisanship and unabated insecurity and human rights violations. Police harassment and intimidation of Governor Uzodinma’s political opponents, and violence against the citizens have been rife.
“We recall that former Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, had queried Mohammed Ahmed Barde, over the illegal declaration of Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the 2023 governorship election in Adamawa State.
“Barde, who was the commissioner of police in Imo State then, served as the police commissioner on election duty in Adamawa for the governorship election.
“He was one of the three service commanders who allegedly assisted the embattled Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari to declare the APC candidate, Binani, as the winner of the poll before the conclusion of collation of results.
“In a letter addressed to Barde and dated June 1, 2023, the IGP highlighted his failure to deliver on his duties and accused him of conspiring with Yunusa-Ari.
“The letter came some weeks after the police authorities withdrew him from election duties in the state over the controversial incident.
“The letter querying Barde was signed by the then Force Secretary, AIG Habu Sani, on behalf of the Inspector General of Police.
“The letter reads in parts, ‘You are a Commissioner of Police in charge of Imo State Command, and by virtue of your rank and experience on the Job, you are expected to be conversant with extant laws, rules, and regulations guiding police officers as well as exhibit a high level of professionalism and responsibility in all your actions but unfortunately, the reverse is the case.
‘Recall that you were posted as Adamawa State Election Duty Commissioner of Police with the core mandate of supervising all aspects of security and related matters towards ensuring a peaceful and credible conduct of the election in line with the 2022 electoral Act as amended and other applicable laws as well as guidelines.
‘Your posting particularly placed you in charge of the Adamawa State supplementary Gubernatorial election held on 15th April, 2023.
‘Following the completion of the voting, collation of results commenced appropriately but before the completion of the said collation exercise, you accompanied the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State and provided him the needed security cover to unlawfully announce a result of an inconclusive election to the consternation of all and sundry.
‘Knowing fully well that the said INEC REC is not empowered by law to announce any election result and being aware that the collation of results was yet to be concluded, you deliberately, willfully, and illegally colluded with the said REC to commit an electoral offense, undermine public trust, compromise a sensitive national assignment and impugned the integrity of the Nigeria Police Force.
‘These intentional and disgraceful acts of yours were despite prior notifications and warnings by the Deputy Inspector General of Police Operations who called you via GSM on the 15th of April 2023 intimating you of intelligence regarding the plans by the REC to illegally announce results, which he eventually did with your due presence.
‘The totality of your actions which were captured in viral videos generated public outcry and condemnation, portrayed the Force in an extremely negative light, and would have occasioned an enormous crisis in the State if not for the prompt deployment of reinforcements.
‘You have therefore undoubtedly debased the exalted rank of Commissioner of Police and brought the image of the Force to an all-time low.’
“The IG ordered the police commissioner to explain his ‘disgraceful’ acts of serious misconduct within 48 hours, stating why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
“The police said his actions culminated in a compromise of the security situation in the state and also queried him for divided loyalty, sabotage, and acts unbecoming of a public officer.
‘You are therefore required to explain within 48hrs of receipt of this query why disciplinary action should not be taken against you.
‘Your explanation if any should be submitted through the appropriate channel within the stipulated period or it would be presumed that you have none to offer and the Inspector General of Police will be at liberty to take any action he deems appropriate in the circumstance,’ the query concluded.
The CSOs continued in their statement, “The details of Barde’s ‘disgraceful’ role in the electoral heist that marred the Adamawa governorship election, resulting to the Inspector General of Police ordering him to ‘pull out’ from the state and, in his stead, dispatching the CP of Gombe state, CP Etim Equa, to Adamawa to restore order and ensure the peaceful conclusion of the disrupted election is fully out there in the public space, and needs no rehashing. It suffices to just restate that, it speaks volumes of a Commissioner of Police who was detailed to ensure electoral security in a state to be withdrawn midway from that state owing to his involvement in electoral crimes and malfeasance which undermined the process.
“But Mr. Barde’s shameful action in Adamawa was not an isolated case of indiscretion. It was a reenactment of his notoriety for professional impropriety as CP in Imo.
READ ALSO:
Catholic Bishop urges Tinubu to distribute N8,000 palliative fairly
“Barde similarly displayed partisanship during the 2023 Presidential and State Assembly elections in Imo State in utter violation of the Standard Operational Guidelines for Law Enforcement Agents on Election Duty. This development was a vindication for those who had been crying out aloud over time in Imo State over Mr. Barde’s brazen partisanship and superintendence over rogue and predatory policing, manifesting in the electoral violence, voter suppression and manipulations that marred the presidential and state assembly elections in Imo state. The outcomes of those flawed elections are still being disputed.
“Barde is perceived as a hatchet man for the Imo State governor. Some Police officers in Imo State under Barde have been severally implicated in many unprofessional and criminal conducts, including harassment, intimidation and attacks on political opposition members. They have been implicated for framing opposition politicians with false charges with some ending up being remanded in prison over baseless and frivolous allegations of terrorism. The houses of some opposition members have been attacked and people killed in the process. Despite CCTV clips revealing the identity of some police officers who are well known, CP Barde did nothing to investigate and bring the bandits in police uniform to account.
“During the recent House of Assembly elections in Imo State, a combination of political thugs loyal to the governor, members of the governor’s hit squad operating from the Imo State government house and some police operatives working in cahoots were seen operating with Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) procured by the governor. They rampaged from one polling unit to another across the state, attacking people, disrupting votes and carting away ballot boxes and ballot papers. The Imo State Deputy Speaker, Jon Amara Iwuanyanwu and candidate of APC for Nwangele state constituency was reported to have been found in the company of Police operatives with Armoured Personnel Carriers, prowling from one polling unit to another in Nwangele LGA, committing acts of electoral brigandage. They were alleged to have mass thumb-printed ballot papers and stuffed them into the snatched ballot boxes. Reports indicated that results announced were disputed as false and inflated. The ruling party was declared winner in virtually all the elections, including in polling units where elections were alleged not to have been allowed to hold. INEC kowtowed to these acts of electoral banditry, endorsed and announced the dubious results and failed to heed calls to investigate widespread allegations of election violence, vote rigging and declaration of false results.
“Reports by different local and international election observation groups highlighted Imo State among the states where election violence were more prevalent. The heads of some police units under the Imo State Police Headquarters are known to work on the directives of the governor’s security aides and hit men, and are used to harass, intimidate, arrest, detain, torture and extort citizens especially people accused of being IPOB/ESN members, in many cases without evidence. Young people are still randomly arrested, their phones seized and searched and those who ask questions are detained, brutalized and assaulted with machetes.
“Under Barde, scores of citizens were arrested, most of them arbitrarily, and illegally detained in police cells in some notorious police Units in Imo State Police Command. One of the most notorious is the Anti-Kidnapping Unit at the Tiger Base.
“Detainees are held incommunicado in very cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions with some of them carrying bullet wounds without medical attention. Many are disappeared, executed or die as a result of not being treated for injuries resulting from torture. Yet, CP Barde never responded to petitions complaining about these egregious human rights violations.
“Barde’s blood-stained record prompted Civil society organisations across Nigeria to call for his removal from Imo State and an investigation into his unprofessional activities.
“To retain Barde in Imo State as CP, or to shield him from appropriate punishment in accordance with legal and statutory stipulations and in line with institutional disciplinary standards for his discreditable conducts, is to do grave disservice to the people of Imo state and Nigeria as a whole. It will mean extending the misery of a people who have for long suffered unmitigated oppression and subjugation in the hands of a predatory police under the command of Barde who is a partisan stooge to Governor Hope Uzodinma.”
The statement was jointly signed by Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Lagos; Barr Samuel Ihensekhien Jnr, Abuja; One Love Foundation, Delta State; International Peace and Civic Responsibility Centre (IPCRC), Anambra State; Human Rights Social Development and Environmental Foundation (HURSDEF), Rivers State; Media Initiative against Injustice, Violence and Corruption (MIIVOC), Rivers State; COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding, Akwa Ibom; Initiative for Public Safety, Security and Educational Development in Nigeria. (IPSSED NETWORK); Enugu State, Nigeria; Grassroots Democracy Network, GDN, Lagos; Onyigbuo Stephen Uche, Ebonyi State; and Nigerian Observatory For Human Rights, Abuja.
Others are Nnaemeka Ejiofor & Associates; Centre for Human Rights Advocacy and Wholesome Society (CEHRAWS), Aba, Abia State; Citizens Center for Integrated Development and social Rights – CCIDOSOR. Imo State; Vision Spring Initiatives, Lagos; Chief Patrick Eholor; Justice for Peace and Development Initiative, Lagos State; Public Enlightenment Projects (PEP), Abia state; Next Generation Youth Initiative International (negyii), Makurdi, Benue State; and Nde Oduko Foundation, Abuja.