The Kano State Police Command has given reasons for the withdrawal of police officers from the state anti-corruption commission.
Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, the police spokesperson, in a statement stated that the development was sequel to routine staff audit being carried out by the Command.
He said that the withdrawal of the police officers was 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 statement further explained, “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.”
The statement clarified that 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.
It said that the action became imperative, so as to correct the obvious anomalies in the operations of the Commission as police officers primarily deployed as static guards and other duties were being used to effect arrest and carry out investigation of cases in deviation from their originally assigned mandate and must be corrected.
It added that the step is towards ensuring a better and effective service delivery by the policemen devoid of abuse of process in the interest of the people.
The statement explained 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.
According to the statement, the Command further revealed that the Inspector-General of Police had directed the immediate return of a number of police officers, providing guard at the Commission’s office, who have gone through the audit process to continue with their duties.
It noted that it is 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.