By Romanus Okoye
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has described allegations that its officers pay bribe for special promotion as falsehood and a deliberate attempt to malign the integrity of the Force. It also said the claim was “a campaign of calumny against the hard earned reputation of the leadership of the NPF, which the Force will not take lightly.”
The police reaction followed a recent report published in a national daily on August 10, 2017 captioned “Police Officers pay bribe for special promotion”, which prompted the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to set-up a special panel to investigate the allegations raised in the report attributed to Senator Isah Hamma Misua.
A statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, CSP Jimoh. O. Moshood, yesterday said the panel was mandated, among others, to investigate the allegations that border on the integrity of the police, other complaints and grievances from within the Force and other members of the public, and recommend appropriate judicial action in line with the provisions of Public Service Rules.
Moshood said the special investigation panel, subsequently, sent two letters to Senator Misau to provide evidence in writing to substantiate his allegations but he declined; and when some members of the panel visited him, he bluntly refused to make any statement on his allegations.
“The distinguished Senator Isah Hamma Misau, instead of proving his allegations with facts and other evidences to the panel, granted another media interview reported on page 10 of Daily Trust of August 22, 2017, captioned “Bribe for Promotion: Senator asks DSS to Probe Police, PSC written by Ismail Mudashir and credited to the Senator.”
The statement added that consequently, Misau’s conduct was reported to the Senate’s ethics and privileges committee for appropriate sanction.
The police further alleged that available record showed that the Senator was an ex-police officer, who left the Nigeria Police Force at the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police after being charged with several acts of misconducts that were inimical to image of the Force.
“He was under Pending Disciplinary Matter (PDM), to appear and face Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC) before he hurriedly exited unceremoniously from the Force. And this can explain his ill motives against the Force,”the statement added.