The Nasarawa Police Commissioner, Lawal Shehu may soon be facing query from his boss the Inspector General of Police following a petition submitted to the Inspector General of Police by a Politician and his wife who are from Nasarawa State, against the Commissioner of Police Nasarawa State Lawal Shehu.
This is because a petition against the Nasarawa State Police Commissioner, Lawal Shehu and other police officers is already with the office of the Inspector of General of Police.
In the petition titled: PETITION AGAINST CP LAWAL SHEHU(NASARAWA STATE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE), DPO RAPHAEL UKENEZIE( DPO LAFIA POLICE STATION) AND IPO HASSAN ADAMU OF NASARAWA STATE POLICE COMMAND FOR ABUSE OF OFFICE AND USE OF PUBLIC OFFICE TO HARASS, ASSAULT AND POSE THREAT TO THE LIVES OF HONOURABLE OMAR NURUDEEN AND HIS WIFE KHADIJAT OMOYEMI NURUDEEN, counsel to the Petitioners Honourable Nurudeen and Khadijat-Omoyemi Nurudeen, Kayode Ajulo and Co with their chamber name as Castle of Law stated thus; “ Our clients are well-respected Nigerian, Honourable Omar is an astute politician and two time political aspirant who contested for the House of Representatives under Lafia/Obi Federal Constituency in the just concluded 2015 general election in Nasarawa State while Khadijat-Omoyemi Nurudeen is a known business woman in Abuja.”
The petitioners’ counsel stated that; “it is our brief that sometime in September 2015, our clients received a call from his security guard in his house at Lafia Nasarawa State that his neighbor, one Abubakar Sanni maliciously packed some garbage and debris before and in our client’s compound. Our clients then discovered that Abubakar Sanni has obviously turned their house to dung hill. In less than ten minutes of their arrival Abubakar Sanni came out with some hoodlums including Tijjani Abubakar and Liman Abubakar and assaulted and marred our clients, calling them bastard politicians, bragging and boasting that since Honourable Omar is longer in government they are ready to deal with him as they have all the machineries in the State to maltreat him.”
According to the petition, the Counsel stated that its clients informed them that they immediately reported the case to the Nigerian Police Nasarawa division but no step was taken, however he filed a Direct Criminal Complaint under section 143(d) and (C) of the criminal Procedure Code against the trio; “ on the 27th day of May 2016, our clients family travelled to Abuja for children’s day holiday unfortunately our clients security man in Lafia equally travelled to his home town in Wambai, while Hon. Omar had travelled out of the country. As the family returned on the 5th of June 2016 at about 6pm when our client family entered the living room, they discovered that almost the entire house has been ransacked by unknown hoodlum.”
The petition stated further that since the threat to the petitioners’ household and property by Abubakar Sanni and his cohorts, and the refusal of the Police to take action; “our clients have been staying in their Lafia property in fear, so much that they decided not to leave property the property without at least a person in occupation. Unfortunately, on the 27th of May 2016 while Honourable Omar was outside the country, his children were on holiday and sought to spend the holiday in Abuja so they were relocated to Abuja with their mother.”
“Coincidentally, our client’s house guard was not around so the Lafia house was left with no one in occupation. Surprisingly, when our clients’ family returned to the Lafia house on the 5th of June 2016, they discovered the whole house had been burgled in a manner that showed malice-the entire house was scattered with nothing tangible was stolen. Having found this suspicious our clients again alerted the Nigerian Police “B” Division. The scene of crime was visited, statements were taken, and prime suspects were identified as Abubakar Sani and his children and pictorial evidence taken. That was the last our clients heard from Police investigation in spite of the hostility already established by our clients against the prime suspects,” the petition stated.
The petition continued by saying that as if the petitioner’s ordeal would end at the Police abandoning citizen in face of imminent threats, the petitioners became more obvious that there appears to be a synergy between the prime suspects and the police when on the 29th of June 2016, the petitioners who are the complainant and the victim of burglary was arrested, detained and his wife assaulted by the same Nigerian Police.
Meanwhile this medium learnt from the petitioners that; “before 29th June 2016, the petitioners had gathered from a very reliable source that the suspect in the burglary case and accused in the District Criminal Complaint has been working around the Lafia Police Station to influence the Police to prevent the petitioners from appearing as the Complainant in the Criminal matter(CMCII/CR56/2015) at Chief Magistrate Court, Lafia and that the Commissioner of Police clearly ordered for their arrest.
More so, the petition stated that; “In preparation for the case of 30th June 2016, the petitioners arrived at Lafia around 4pm of 29th June 2016 and within a short while members of Police Force who obviously laid ambush for them appeared and arrested them. They were kicked, battered and taken to the Lafia Police Station.
When our client’s enquired on the basis of his arrest, the IPO, Hassan Adamu rudely told him that it was a command from the Commissioner of Police on the agreement of Abubakar Sani. Mrs Khadijat then asked if the new practice is to leave a suspect and harass the victim; the IPO immediately slapped her and pushed her to a limbo. Our clients were humiliated, maimed and mercilessly treated, the order from the Commissioner of Police was to detain our clients till after the Court sitting on the 3oth June 2016- such was the information our clients gathered as also established by the IPO.”
This medium gathered that it took the intervention of respected Nigerians from the Federal Capital Abuja and other States to prevail on the Police to release our clients, even after his wife has been maltreated and beaten.
Meanwhile information obtained from the petitioners indicate that the Senior Counselor to the Emir of Lafia who is also the second in Command to the Emir, known as Madakin Lafia is conniving with accused as it was alleged that he took the accused to the Commissioner of Police Nasarawa State, and since then the accused has been boasting and threatening the petitioners as he called them names, and also brags that since Honourable Omar is longer in government they are ready to deal with him as they have all the machineries in the State to maltreat him.
According to the petitioners, even when they accused opted for out of settlement, and the petitioners agreed, but to the surprise of the petitioners, the accused was later advised by his lawyers not to sign the agreement and as such the case was not withdrawn again from the court.
“sir, our brief is very clear, we have recently been witnessing great reforms in the operations of the Nigerian Police Nationwide but the practice in Nasarawa State Police Command, especialy that of the current Commissioner of Police Lawal Shehu has shocked our clients, to their dismay, Abubakar Sani who was suspected of burglary and assault has been moving freely because the Commissioner of Police has decided not to exercise his discretion in protecting our clients, yet the machinery of Police was used to beat and arrest our clients-the complainants! We see a need to investigate this unwarranted abuse of office,” counsel to the petitioners stated.
As it is now for the new Inspector General of Police Ag. Ibrahim K. Idris, this may be a litmus test for him, being the fact that he just recently assumed office. However, it is left for the IG to carry action so that it will serve as a deterrent to other Police officers.
