Posted by By Bayo Adetu on
Human rights lawyer and activist, Femi Falana, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, over what he called illegal sales of arms and ammunition to criminal gangs, by the Ekiti State Police Command.
Human rights lawyer and activist, Femi Falana, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, over what he called illegal sales of arms and ammunition to criminal gangs, by the Ekiti State Police Command.
In his petition, dated 2 January, 2009, Falana said he had intimated the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, Mr. Chris Ola, on the issue, but he did not react.
'I had cause to share some intelligence reports with Mr. Chris Ola, the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, sometime in November, 2008, concerning the alleged involvement of policemen in the illegal sales of arms and ammunition to armed robbers and other criminal gangs in Ekiti state.
'For reasons best known to the police commissioner, he dismissed the highly reliable intelligence reports. But the official cover-up was exposed last month, when a detachment of the Nigeria Army invaded Ekiti state and arrested Sergeants Ibukun Omoseyin and Balogun Samuel, both of the Ekiti State Police Command, for selling over 100,000 rounds of ammunition to kidnappers operating in the Niger Delta.
'In the light of the foregoing, we urge you to use your good office to investigate the involvement of the Ekiti State Police Command.
'In order to get to the root of the iniquitous arms trafficking in Ekiti state, you may need to remove the Commissioner of Police without any further delay,' Falana advised.