Posted by From LAMBERT TYEM, Abuja on
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro on Wednesday washed his hands off the demotion of former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and 139 other policemen, announced by the Police Service Commission.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro on Wednesday washed his hands off the demotion of former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and 139 other policemen, announced by the Police Service Commission.
Police spokesman, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Agberebi Akpoebi said in Abuja that Okiro was not involved in anyway in the demotion of Ribadu and the others.
The police spokesperson said the IGP got the information of the demotion of the officers as any other person through the media, adding that the decision was purely that of the commission, and in consonance with the powers vested on it.
Mr. Akpoebi stressed that the police as an arm of government, was subject to government programmes and policies meant for the well-being of the citizenry.
According to the police image maker, ' police are civil servants and are guided by Civil Service Law. Whenever government takes decision to enforce any of its existing laws which it deems fit, nobody can challenge it, and moreover, it was not done to hunt or please any individual.'
He, however, said since the country was in a democracy, anybody who felt not comfortable with any government policy was free to express his rights within the ambit of the law, The Police Force, he stressed, was a disciplined organization that always operated within the confines of the law.
In the same vein, some senior police officers who spoke with Daily Sun at the Louis Edet House in Abuja on the condition of anonymity expressed mixed feelings on the development, but wished the practice would be sustained in the overall interest of equity and justice.
The Police Service Commission had on Tuesday reversed the Promotions of 140 Senior Police Officers whose elevation according to the Commission breached section 153 of the 1999 constitution and the Police Service Commission Act of 2001.