The Nigeria Police Force has invited Mr. Martins Vincent Otse popularly known as “VeryDarkMan(VDM),” to come and produce, without delay, the evidence upon which he based these serious allegations that police officers manning checkpoints along major highways relay information to kidnappers and bandits.
DrumAfricanews reports that VDM at the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference in Port Harcourt, alleged that police officers manning checkpoints along major highways relay information to kidnappers and bandits regarding the identity and movement of travellers, thereby facilitating abductions for ransom.
Reacting, the Nigeria Police Force in a statement signed by CSP Ani Iniedu,
Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja said that it takes all allegations concerning the conduct of its personnel seriously.
It therefore, firmly rejects the allegations as unsubstantiated and unfairly damaging to an institution entrusted with the protection of millions of Nigerians.
Iniedu said that allegations of this gravity demand a corresponding standard of evidence, and that standard has not yet been met.
Hence, the police have invited VDM to produce the evidence including any evidence that police personnel at checkpoints identify wealthy individuals and subsequently transmit information about them to kidnappers for the purpose of facilitating their abduction.
“Any such information will be treated with urgency and investigated thoroughly. We encourage any member of the public with credible evidence of officer misconduct to come forward through these channels rather than through public allegation alone, so that appropriate action can be taken,” Iniedu said.
He said that for the avoidance of doubt, police personnel deployed to checkpoints and other locations nationwide are there to prevent crime, detect criminal activity and protect citizens, not to facilitate kidnapping.
“Indeed, these same police officers routinely confront the very criminal elements alleged to be receiving such information. Police personnel have been ambushed, attacked and killed, while police stations, formations and operational assets have equally been targeted by terrorists, kidnappers and other violent criminals.”
Iniedu said that police officers deserve better than blanket accusations, stressing that the Nigeria Police Force is made up of hundreds of thousands of officers who report for duty daily under difficult, underfunded, and often dangerous conditions, many of them at checkpoints exposed to the very criminal elements they are trying to keep off our roads.
Therefore, sweeping public accusations that paint the entire Force as complicit in the crimes it exists to prevent are deeply demoralizing to these officers and unfair to the majority who serve with integrity.
According to Iniedu”Where individual officers are found to have compromised their duty, they will face the full weight of internal discipline and the law. But an entire institution should not be condemned on the strength of a public statement made without evidence.”
He said that the Nigeria Police Force remains committed to transparency and accountability. We will continue to investigate all credible allegations of misconduct,however they arise, and we will not hesitate to act where wrongdoing is established.
“However, the sacrifices of our personnel and the integrity of the institution will not be casually diminished by unverified allegations. Anyone with credible evidence of misconduct should bring it forward through the appropriate channels for investigation in accordance with the law.”
The police called on the members of the public to exercise responsibility in making and sharing allegations concerning national security institutions and to distinguish between legitimate criticism, which strengthens accountability, and unsubstantiated claims, which can endanger public trust and national security.
