Huriwa Thrilled By Investigative Reorganization By Igp:

The Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has applauded the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu for effecting internal re-organisation of the investigative command structures of the Police to bring them in line with the demands of contemporary crime detection strategy and global best practices just as the Rights group said there are more works to be done by the nation's police Chief to rid the nation's policing institution of crass indiscipline and lack of professionalism by most of the ranks and file.

HURIWA recalled that it had recently frowned at the proliferation of investigative units affiliated to the office of the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu which made it inevitable that most of these sub-units would and are working at cross purposes and duplicating the investigative activities of certain matters that some of them get financial inducements to undermine each other and scuttle successful redress of pending petitions filed by Nigerians just as the recent intervention of the foremost Civil Rights Advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) was based on the plot to undermine a previously written petition from a community in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State on land ownership matters.

In a media Statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf HURIWA said that it was aware of a directive by the Inspector General of Police to the office of the Deputy Inspectors General of Police; Assistant Inspectors General of Police, the Commissioner of Police and the Commandants of Police colleges all across the Country on the theme of

FORCE RE-ORGANIZATION dated June 30th 2020.
HURIWA commended the nation's police chief for these steps even though the Rights group said ultimately the best strategy to get an effective policing institution is the decentralisation of command and control structures of the Police and the effective constitutional reforms to create state and local policing structures.

HURIWA said it is aware that the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu stated as follows in the directive he recently issued on Force re-organisation thus:

" As part of the initiatives of the force leadership towards streamlining the operational stand of the special intelligence and tactical units of Nigeria police force with a view to restoring discipline, professionalism and efficiency within the dictates of rule of law in relation to their functions ,

The following are approved with immediate effect:
(i) The intelligence Response Team (IRT) is hereby subsumed under the administration and operational control of the Force intelligence Bureau (FIB).

(ii) The special Tactical Squad (STS) is also hereby subsumed under the administrative and operational control of the Force intelligence BUREAU (FIB).

.2) With these directives, true intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the special Tactical squad (STS) are now I’m the force intelligence Bureau (FIB) and they are to , henceforth, report all their activities and operations to the head of the force

Intelligence Bureau from whom they shall from now on take directives.

.3) In assuming full administrative and operational responsibility for the two units, the head of the force intelligence Bureau is to initiate appropriate actions towards streamlining the operations of the units and restore discipline, professionalism and full observance of rule of law in their operations. Henceforth, all formations and commands should refer all issues touching on the two units to the head of the force intelligence Bureau for appropriate action.

.4) you are to note this force re-organization and make it a subject of lecture for the formation of all officers of the force in your commands, while also acknowledging receipt accordingly, please."

HURIWA has similarly asked the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu to investigate the allegations made in a petition to his office from Enugu titled

"RE: HARRASSMENT, INTIMIDATION AND AN UNLAWFUL USE OF THE POLICE MOBILE FORCE THREE (PMF3) GARIKI, ENUGU, ENUGU STATE AS A CONDUIT FOR ILLEGALITY: AN APPEAL FOR YOUR INTERVENTION."

HURIWA said her attention has been drawn to the petition written by the team of lawyers on behalf of the distressed community aforementioned sent to the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu as follows:

"We continue to act as Solicitors to the Ugwuaji-Awkunanaw autonomous community, which shall hereinafter be referred to as our client and upon whose express instruction, mandate and authorisation we forward this letter of request to you.

We refer to our letter dated February 14, 2019 with the above caption, submitted to your office since February, 2019 and wish to state that owing to no action on the complaint, the Police Mobile Force Number 3 (PMF3) Enugu, has in conjunction with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad Enugu, at the instance of some unscrupulous officials of Enugu State Ministry of Housing, continued with their dastardly despicable act of harassing and intimidating the indigenes of our client out of the said land, as the men and officers of Police Mobile Force Number 3 Enugu together with the men of Special Anti-Robbery Squad Enugu have continued to occupy the land belonging to our client, thereby preventing the indigenes of our client from carrying on their usual farming activities on the said land.

May we also reiterate as in the letter under reference that the continued occupation of the land in issue, the harassment and intimidation of the indigenes of our client by the men and officers of Police Mobile Force number 3 as well as those of Special Anti-Robbery Squad Enugu respectively are in absolute disregard to the judgment of the Federal High Court Enugu which judgment was obtained pursuant to the suit filed against the Nigerian Army as well as the Nigeria Police Force by some indigenes of our clients.

Kindly find attached a copy of the said judgment.
It is considered important to state here, that this land in question was previously being claimed by the people of Ogui Nike, who in an effort to wrestle the land from our client, procured the Nigerian Army under 82 Division to deploy some soldiers to occupy the land and scare our client away from the land. However, upon the judgment above and the letter from our client to the Chief of Army Staff, the soldiers were withdrawn from the land, indicating the disposition of the Nigerian Army towards obedience to the Rule of Law.

However, notwithstanding the various efforts our client has made towards curtailing the excesses of the men and officers of Police Mobile Force number 3 Enugu on the land, the result as at present, is the deployment of more men from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Enugu Command of the Nigerian Police Force to the land, as reinforcement to the already deployed men and officers of Police Mobile Force number 3, the implication of which is a heightened intimidation and harassment of the indigenes of our client under the guise that the said land which had been earlier mapped and duly registered in the Enugu State land registry as a layout, has now been fictitiously donated to the government by certain unknown individuals for some non-existent white-elephant housing project.

It is therefore in consideration of the various acts of harassment and intimidation meted against the individual indigenes of our client, on the said land, by police men jointly drawn from the Police Mobile Force number 3 and Special Anti-Robbery Squad Enugu respectively as well as the clear attempt by some unscrupulous elements to use the institution of the Nigerian Police Force to convert our client’s land to their selfish and unlawful gain, that we again, on behalf of our client, humbly plead with your office to assist our client to recover their ancestral land, which is at the verge of being forcefully grabbed from our client by some greedy people, who intend to use you, the Police Force, as the weapon for the perfection of their illegality.

It is also our client’s humble prayer that these police officers from the Police Mobile Force (PMF3) and Special Anti-Robbery Squad Enugu respectively, who in discharge of their duties are manifestly biased and flagrantly disobey the rule of law be withdrawn from the said land so as to enable the indigenes of our client to make good use of their ancestral land.

Believing that our client’s prayer and request will be favourably considered and granted by your office, we wish to express our client’s gratitude to you as endorsed by Chijioke, Obinna and Co law firm".