The Kano State Police Command has said that it withdrew its officers from the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) to conduct an audit on the officers.
According to the command, this follows a series of reports indicating that the officers attached to the anti-corruption commission have been highhanded. It said there were also allegations that they had deviated from their expected role of providing static guard and other duties at the commission.
It was learnt that the withdrawn police personnel had been providing security for the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission. They were also reported assisting the state anti-corruption in its investigation of multi-billion naira corruption allegations against the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Ganduje.
Some members of Ganduje’s family including his wife, Hafsat Umar and his son, Umar Abdullahi along with his cronies are facing charges bordering on corruption and diversion of public funds.
The command made this known in a statement issued by Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa.
The police spokesperson stated that the withdrawal of the officers also became imperative to correct the obvious anomalies in the operations of the commission as police officers primarily deployed to provide static guard were being used to carry out arrests and investigations.
Kiyawa said such deviation from their original assignment must be corrected.
Kiyawa said, “The Kano State Police Command had recalled police officers posted to Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), with a view to conducting staff audit aimed at ascertaining the exact number of police officers seconded to the commission as well as to understand the reporting line and nature of duties each police officer is performing since their initial deployment to the commission in the year 2015.
“The exercise was simply a response to series of reports received through the Command’s Complaint Response Unit (CRU), portraying policemen attached to the commission as being highhanded and deviating from the expected role of providing static guard and other duties at the commission.
“Members of the public are to note that the objective of the ongoing staff audit is basically to address the litany of complaints as reported by sections of the media.
“The action further became imperative, so as to correct the obvious anomalies in the operations of the commission as police officers primarily deployed to static guards and other duties were being used to effect arrest and carry out investigation of cases which clearly is a deviation from their originally assigned mandate and must be corrected.”
He said the steps being taken would “ensure a better and effective service delivery by the policemen devoid of abuse of process in the interest of the people”.
“It will be recalled that similar exercises were conducted in the past from the inception of the Commission in the year 2015 and the men were returned at the conclusion of such exercises,” he said.
He continued, “It is nevertheless the position of the command that should the commission require more policemen for other duties than what has been expressly approved by the IGP, the commission may apply to the IGP to grant further approvals for professional officers with specific training in fields such as investigations and prosecution to be appropriately seconded to it.
“Members of the public are thus enjoined to disregard the current perception being portrayed by a section of the media, that aligned the objective to political witch-hunt, as the Police Command will ever remain professional and keep performing its statutory roles of protecting lives and property of all people according to the provisions of the extant laws of the country.”