Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole Thursday called for the dismissal of the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in Charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that supervised investigations into the gruesome murder of his Private Secretary, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde.
Oshiomhole made the shocking call in Abuja while delivering a speech at the inauguration of the Code of Conduct for police officers. In attendance were Vice President Namadi Sambo, and the Inspector General of Police amongst other key personnel in the police service, commission and ministry.
“IG, I am aggrieved over the murder of my Private Secretary and the way in which it was trivialized. I am saying it knowing that the Vice President is here. The only thing I owe my murdered Private Secretary is to speak the truth even if it will cost me my office.
“My secretary was murdered in cold blood and you dispatched a DIG to supervise that investigation. A DIG is a sufficiently senior officer, they came to Benin and they did what Fela (Ransome-Kuti) would have called police magic.
“In the end, they went for a civil right activist and charged him for the offence of murder,” the governor said.
“The DIG Force CID has a case to answer, it is either he is guilty of conspiracy to murder or is guilty of conspiracy to shield murderers or both in which case he cannot wear his police uniform, he must be dismissed.
“The Deputy Commissioner of Police that he used, who claimed that they have done a thorough job, he has no business wearing police uniform because by my judgment, in his own narrative, he is a criminal.
“They wrote a report which is their own report that the man, who was involved in the murder was already under police detention.
“The weapon that was used for the murder was used for armed robbery earlier, recovered by the police and under police custody at the time my secretary was murdered.
“So, the man who murdered my secretary was in police custody, the gun used was in police custody and this is the findings of the police…
“The police murdered my Private Secretary or gave the order that he should be murdered, ” the Governor said.
“And I ask the Vice President to report to the President that if they do not find the killers of Olaitan, he can’t expect the people of Edo state and all those who know Olaitan, to have confidence in the security agencies.
“I feel terrible that as a Governor, I can’t get justice. If I can’t get justice then an average Nigerian cannot expect justice and we can’t have justice if we can’t tell the truth,’’ the Governor said.
Oshiomhole also expressed his frustration over what he termed the culture of impunity and lawlessness in the police and civil service.
“This country cannot be reduced to a banana republic. When the stick and carrot game is appropriately applied, the message of discipline would be clear to all.
“I want to be specific. In Edo State, a policeman manned an illegal road block, contrary to the orders of the IG. Members of the public complained and the fact of the illegal block was established.
“It was discovered that a soldier was recruited illegally by an ASP to man this illegal road block, extorting money. In my view, that borders on armed robbery because the man carries arms. Without the arms, he cannot subdue the road user to part with his money.
“If you take money with the aid of arms, you are an armed robber. Having arrested him, the Army proceeded to do what a responsible force should do by dismissing the soldier.
“IG, you will be shocked to know and this is not 10 years ago that your men in Benin decided to shield this officer and, recently, I learnt that one of them was even promoted.
“While the military dismissed the soldier, the police promoted their own. How can you have discipline in such an environment? I will plead that you order the dismissal of those policemen today.
The Governor also called for the scrapping of the Police Affairs Ministry saying, “We do not need the Police Affairs Ministry because the minister is a partisan politician who may not allow the Inspector General of Police to function indep
“While the military dismissed the soldier, the police promoted their own. How can you have discipline in such an environment? I will plead that you order the dismissal of those policemen today.
The Governor also called for the scrapping of the Police Affairs Ministry saying, “We do not need the Police Affairs Ministry because the minister is a partisan politician who may not allow the Inspector General of Police to function independently.”