A non-governmental organisation, the Rule of Law, Advocacy and Accountability Centre (RULAAC), has asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to call a female Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) to order, over the misuse of police powers.
In a petition on Sunday, signed by RULAAC’s Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, the NGO raised the alarm that ACP Amabua has been using her position in the police to harass a lawyer and human rights activist, Abdul Mahmud in a bid to extract revenge over a petition he did to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), querying how as an ACP, she was able to acquire a property worth N18 million.
Quoting Abdul Mahmud, RULAAC reveals that the issue started on June 25th, 2023.
“1 On 25th June, 2023, he met two female police officers who are aides of ACP Amabua Mohammed (owner of two properties in the Estate he resides) assaulting a security officer at the gate of the Estate.
” 2 He parked and walked to the scene and asked the security officer what was going on. He told him that the sister of the ACP claimed he locked her inside the house.
“3. The security officer denied ever going to her property. He (Abdul Mahmud) turned to the sister to the ACP and asked her if she was locked in, she didn’t answer. He asked the two female officers if they had warrant of arrest, they said they hadn’t and that he should speak with the ACP who was inside a police car.
“4. He told the female officers to reach out to the chairman of the Estate before the officer could be taken out and he left for church.
“5. On his way back from church after a few hours, he met a large crowd at the gate with a reinforced detachment of armed police officers. There was a shouting match between the ACP and the crowd that resisted any attempt to arrest security officers on duty.
“6. No sooner the ACP sighted him, she walked up to him and grabbed him by the collars of his shirt, claimed he prevented a lawful arrest earlier.
“7. He told her she had no warrant and that the alleged offence was not committed in her presence, so she can’t make an arrest without a warrant. He didn’t even touch her.
“8. The ACP left seeing that she couldn’t effect the arrest. A few days later, on the eve of the Sallah, officers turned up at his home to arrest him with a warrant. His arrest became a public issue and he was granted bail after the intervention of the Force HQ.
“9. He was later charged to court on trumped up charges of conspiracy, assault, trespass and resisting lawful arrest. The trial is ongoing at the Magistrate Court sitting at the Muhammadu Buhari International Market, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, with Okutepa SAN and Ibrahim SAN representing him.
“10. To his utter shock, he has received an invitation from the police in their continuing harassment of his person, at the instance of the selfsame ACP Amabua Mohammed.
“11. He believes that, rather than open up another channel – which amouns to abuse of process, the ACP should allow his ongoing trial ( in which his lawyers, Okutepa SAN and Ibrahim SAN are representing him) at the Magistrate Court sitting at the Muhammadu Buhari International Market, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, should continue to conclusion.
“12. He further informed us that, suspicious of the fact that the property worth N18m the ACP claims she owns may be illegally acquired as a public servant, he petitioned the ICPC and Code of Conduct Bureau to investigate both properties. The petitions were published by the media. She has now resorted to harassment using the instrumentality of the Police Force HQ, alleging cyber bullying, threat to life and extortion.
“13. He believes that if anybody’s life is threatened, it is his life. The officers from the Counter Intelligence Unit of the FIB that delivered the letter of invitation to him told the security officers at the gate that they were going to see the ACP but rather drove to his home. Clearly, they deliberately breached security protocol at the Estate gates.”
In the petition to the IGP, RULAAC calls on him to order a halt to the further harassment of Abdul Mahmud by the police and to call ACP Amabua Mohammed to order.
“She should be directed to allow the court to conclude the ongoing trial of the complainant based on her earlier allegations against him.
“We call for investigation of the allegation of incivility against ACP Amabua i.e. that she grabbed the complainant by the collars of his shirt, claiming he prevented a lawful arrest earlier.”