By Emma Ogbuehi
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has dismissed four Senior Police Officers over cases of serious misconduct and acts unbecoming of public officers. The Commission also reduced in rank two other Officers while also handing punishments of severe reprimand and reprimand to four others (two each).
According to a statement by Head, Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, the Commission took these decisions at its 10th. Plenary Meeting presided over by Commission Chairman, Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police and which came to an end on Friday, December 18th, 2020.
According to the statement, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, was dismissed for discreditable conduct, dishonesty and act unbecoming of a public Officer while a Superintendent of Police was also dismissed for conspiring with four others to vandalize a transformer and stealing. The Commission also directed that the Officer should be prosecuted.
The two other dismissed Officers are a Deputy Superintendent of Police and an Assistant Superintendent of Police. The DSP was said to have led a team that intercepted three Mercedes Benz trucks conveying about 300,000 live cartridges believed to have been smuggled across the border from Benin Republic into Nigeria. The team was said to have impounded the trucks at base for three days but made no entries nor a situation report of the arrest relayed. The DSP rather raised a fake letter purporting to escort the vehicles and suspects to Federal SARS Lagos with the dubious intention of ensuring their unlawful release. Luck however ran out of the team when they were intercepted at a Military checkpoint where soldiers on duty insisted on verifying the contents of the trucks. The DSP and his team were said to have abandoned the trucks and fled.
The ASP was dismissed for misappropriation, action prejudicial to the security of the state; sabotage; dishonesty and act unbecoming of a public officer.
The Commission also treated several appeals and petitions.
The Commission had also during the Plenary Meeting approved the promotion of four Assistant Inspectors General of Police to the substantive rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police.
The new DIGs are expected to represent their geo-political zones in the Police Management Team.
The new DIGs are AIG Usman Alkali Baba, currently acting DIG Administration; AIG. Dan Mallam Mohammed, AIG in charge of Zone 13 Ukpo, Anambra State; AIG David Oyebanji Folawiyo, AIG in charge of Zone 17, Akure and CP. Joseph Egbunike, CP, Budget.
Thirteen Commissioners of Police were elevated to the rank of AIG, twenty three Deputy Commissioners to CP, twenty nine Assistant Commissioners to DCP, ninety one Chief Superintendents to Assistant Commissioners including CSP Bello Dankal DPO, Bagwai Division, Kano State and five hundred and ninety nine Superintendents promoted to CSPs which also include the Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State, SP Haruna Mohammed; SP Usman Abdullahi Machika, 2i/c SPU Base 7 Abuja and SP Umar Adekunle Fagbemi 2i/c SIB, Rivers State.
