Imo State police command has detained
five of its officers, including the armourer
of the New Owerri police division, over
how an AK-47 rifle belonging to the police
ended up in the hands of dare devil
kidnappers operating in the state.
State Police Commissioner, Mohammed
Musa Katsina, who confirmed the
development, said while four of the five
policemen were explaining their
involvement in the sordid act, the
armourer is being tried for negligent
conduct.
“It is true that I ordered the arrest,
detention and interrogation of four serving
policemen of this command for allegedly
renting one of the rifles assigned to them
to dare devil kidnappers.”
According to the CP, all the police officers,
including the armourer, arrested in
connection with the act are now facing
orderly room trial.
“I have constituted a panel to try them.
They have been given the opportunity to
explain and anybody found to be involved
in the crime would be made to face the
full weight of the law,” Katsina said.
Giving a graphic account of how the police
recovered the weapon from fleeing
kidnappers, Katsina said the command’s
Ambush Squad gave a hot chase to a gang
of kidnappers and in the process, they
abandoned the gun in their operational
vehicle and ran away.
“When the vehicle was thoroughly
searched, the AK-47 rifle belonging to the
command was recovered. We traced the
point of issue to New Owerri police
division and that is how the armourer
came into the picture,” the CP said.
Katsina said policemen are given weapons
to protect the citizens and not to use it to
terrorize the people they are supposed to
protect.
“The four were officially assigned the
weapons for guard duties. The other three
policemen never reported to anybody that
their colleague whose weapon was later
recovered from kidnappers, was not
reporting for duty” the CP said.
