… as Police uncover fresh facts
- It’s cheap propaganda – Misau
The Nigeria Police at the weekend hit back at Senator Isa Hamma Misau, as it accused the lawmaker of forging a resignation letter from the Police Force, way back in 2010.
The latest throw-back has thus signaled what may become a long-drawn battle between the two sides, even as reports said President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered a high-powered inquest.
Our correspondent authoritatively gathered that the Police “are bent on sending the senator to jail for forging his retirement letter.”
Misau had last week alleged that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, collected bribes totaling over N30billion from oil companies, banks and other organisations, “for police protection.”
He also leveled a similar allegation against a retired IGP, Mike Okiro, who currently heads the Police Service Commission.
HE LIED AGAINST ME – IGP
Reacting, IGP Idris lambasted the senator, who is a former police officer, accusing him of deserting the Police Force in 2010 upon his redeployment to the Niger State Command.
Senator Misau had also publicly flaunted his resignation letter from the Nigeria Police Force at the period.
But speaking exclusively to The Point on behalf of the embattled IGP, the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police, said the resignation letter Senator Misau flaunted was forged.
“The resignation letter being displayed by Senator Misau was forged and should be investigated,” he claimed.
“The lawmaker had not resigned from the Police Force and as such, he should not be addressed as a Senator. More so, he should be under police investigation by now,” Moshood added.
IT’S CHEAP PROPAGANDA – MISAU
But in a swift reaction, Senator Misau described the police reaction to the “weighty issues” raised by him as “cheap propaganda to obfuscate the real issue.”
In a chat with our correspondent, the lawmaker said, “I wonder why the police spokesman abandoned the “real issue” relating to “illegal promotion in the Police Force and its potential to undermine operational capacity of the Force and relapse to accusing me of something that has no basis.
“The Inspector-General of Police and the Chairman, Police Service Commission should prove me wrong and not embark on voyage of discovery,” he fumed.
Misau insisted that he strictly followed the provisions of the Police Act and Regulations in resigning from the Police Force.
He said that the Police knew his whereabouts since he left the force and could have effected his arrest if he had left the force without proper resignation.
The lawmaker said, “Moreover, I have been in the Senate for about two and a half years without any mention of my deserting, until my innocuous caution against practices capable of destroying the Police Force.
“It is beyond curiosity that the Police would be looking for someone clearly in plain sight for these past years. Little wonder the proliferation of crime in the country and the Police’s apparent cluelessness, especially, under the current leadership of the IGP.”
Misau, who is representing Bauchi Central at the National Assembly, had on Friday, particularly made weighty allegations against IGP Idris and the Police Service Commission, under the leadership of Okiro.
THE ALLEGATIONS
Aside from accusing Okiro of “promotion racketeering” at the commission, Misau also accused the IGP of collecting bribes, ranging from N10million to N15million from Commissioners of Police, State Mobile Police Commanders and Special Protection Unit (SPU) Commanders, for “favourable postings.”
GROUP RISES FOR OKIRO
A group, Salvage for Development Initiative, recalled that Okiro was appointed head of the police when the then ruling People’s Democratic Party had security challenges, not as a police officer, because he had retired in 2009.
SDI Executive Director, Mr. Abdullateef Sanni, and National Secretary, Gafar Temitayo, at a news conference in Abuja, challenged Misau to clear himself of the allegation of being a deserter before descending “on an innocent man like Okiro.”
Sanni said that it was shocking for the lawmaker to brandish a purported letter of retirement issued by the PSC in 2014, “yet he contested the 2011 election as a Senator for Bauchi Central Senatorial District under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, which he lost.
He added, “Let him explain the disparity in the date of his purported retirement and his contesting a House of Representatives’ seat in 2011. Let him also explain how he managed to contest for the elected office while still in the Nigeria Police.”
‘POLICE BENT ON JAILING SENATOR’
The Force, it was learnt, is convinced that if Misau had resigned properly, he would possess a “retirement I.D card.”
A police source, who craved anonymity, informed The Point that “Misau doesn’t draw pension from the Police”, challenging him to say who paid him ‘the initial lump sum.’
“Police is also keeping the joker of the discrepancies in the date of Misau’s so-called retirement letter.”
But sources at the National Assembly told The Point that Misau might be banking on the support of his colleagues, when the Senate resumes on September 19 to hear the controversy.
