Police Officer Slumps Heavily In Anambra Over Transfer To Borno

An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) attached to the Central Police Station, Nnewi in the Anambra State Police Command, yesterday reportedly slumped following a directive from the Office of the Inspector General of Police (IG) posting him to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.


The officer, who is of South-east extraction, and reports said had less than a year left to retire from the service was among the 149 officers affected by the postings to different parts of the country.

Borno State is the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, which has led to the death of over 12,000 Nigerians. Just 66 days ago, the terror sect abducted over 200 schoolgirls from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State.

The officer, however, was said to have been revived by doctors and other medical personnel at a private hospital in Nnewi where he was rushed to after he slumped.

The transfer of almost 150 senior police officers serving in the state has cast a dark cloud on the entire command.

It was gathered that the letter of transfer signed by Dan Azumi Job, an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, indicated that officers within the ranks of ASP and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) were affected in the mass transfer.

According to the signal from the AIG, obtained by THISDAY, the affected officers were supposed to have reported to their new command on June 9, 2014.

The Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie
Obiano had about a fortnight ago requested
the IGP to transfer out some of the officers
within the police command following the
allegation that some of them were colluding
with criminal elements in the state, therefore making his battle against criminals
difficult.

THISDAY, however, learnt that some of the affected officers are alleging ethnic bias in the transfers, as most of those affected were said to be of southern extraction, especially the Igbos who are protesting their transfer to the Boko Haram prone states.

Some of the officers, who spoke to THISDAY on the condition of anonymity, alleged that while only two officers were transferred to Abia State, 12 officers were transferred to Bauchi; six to Borno; seven to Adamawa; six to Jigawa; seven to Gombe; one to Imo, two to Akwa Ibom two; two to Cross-River; two to
Enugu two; two to Edo; three to Delta; and five to Ekiti, among others.

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Command yesterday demolished two buildings alleged to have belonged to kidnap suspects in Ogidi and Ojoto towns in Idemili North and Idemili South Local Government Areas, respectively.

The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Usuman Gwary, who led the demolition squad, also paraded 17 suspects alleged to have been involved in kidnapping and armed robberies, the hijacking of goods from traders in Onitsha as well as using fake vehicle plate numbers and drivers’ licences.

He said they had been involved in criminal activities for a long time and their modus operandi included blindfolding their victims, while making away with their goods, adding that 600 bags of chemicals with which they made plastic plate numbers were found in their warehouse in Asaba, Delta State.