By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), has said that it is not under any obligation to invite any suspect before carrying out its investigation.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made this classification, while responding to question on why the police is targeting journalists under the guise of Cyber Crime Act 2024, at the joint press briefing of the security, defence and response agencies, at Defence Headquarters, in Abuja.
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This is as the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), also announced plan to unveil pictures of the escaped inmates of Suleja jail break, in the coming weeks.
Recall that in April 2024, no fewer than 119 inmates escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger State, following an overnight, torrential rainfall that damaged walls of the prison facility.
The spokesperson of the Service, Mr. Abubakar Umar, who was responding to question on the number of fleeing inmates already recaptured after the ugly incidents, said that no fewer than 23 escapes have been recaptured so far.
Umar said; “I want to say hear that there is a concerted effort by the service to recapture fleeing inmates. I want to put on record that we have been able to recapture 23 escapes, so far. I want to also assure you that we are working hard to release the pictures of the fleeing inmates. We are working with other security agencies to enable us accomplish this task urgently. Our IT unit is working collaboratively with other relevant government agencies to get this done. This is a very sensitive matter and when we are dealing with issues of this nature, we must ensure that we cross check our facts very well before putting it out in the public space. This is the major cause for the delay, we are ready to release the photographs of the wanted inmates. I can assure you that we have concluded the process and we are ready to unveil the pictures in the coming weeks”.
Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who briefed the media on behalf of other spokespersons, disclosed that 9,303 terrorists were killed, 6,988 others including their logistic suppliers and informants were arrested, while 4641 hostages were rescued within the period under review.
But debunking the allegations that journalists are been targeted, the Police Spokesperson said, the application of cyber crime act 2024, is not aimed to witch-hunt, harass, or oppress journalists as been alleged.
Adejobi said: “We are not under any obligation to even send invitation to a suspect. It is just mark of respect. There is no law that says that the police must invite a suspect before carrying out investigation. We can only honour you by sending an invitation to you but when you fail to honor it, we would go to court and get a warrant and get you arrested. It is not that we are applying cyber crime act 2024 to witch-hunt, harass, or oppress you”.
He further said, “Let me put it on record that if any petition is written against you as a journalist, I think the best thing you should do as a trained journalist is to honour the invitation and then get across to us in the Public Relations department. Most of these upcoming bloggers often contravene the law because they want to break the news first. You must crosscheck your facts before going public. When an invitation is extended to you by the police, honour it, we are all human beings”.
Also speaking on what the correctional centre is doing to reform the inmates before they leave the centres, Abubakar Umar, said that over 300 inmates are pursuing various classe of degrees, while six others and concluding their PhD programme.
On the number of inmates in their custody, Umar said: “As at this week, we have over 80,000 inmates under our watch and speaking about the facilities, we have 256 correctional centers across the federation. On the programmes emplaced by the service to reform the inmates, I will make bold to say that since the inauguration of this administration, we have made significant progress in reforming those in our custody. Currently we have six inmates rounding up their PhD programme. Also we have over 300 inmates pursuing various class of degrees. This is part of our effort to reform the inmates in preparation for their reintegration into the society. There is also an inmate who had written a book, the book will soon be launched. The essence of reforming these inmates is to improve public safety, because it is only when they have behavioral change, through our programmes at no cost to them that we can enjoy a safe society, where development can take place. We also build their capacities in other areas to equip them with skills that can put food on their tables. We have over 20 skill acquisition programme across our facilities, which are available for them to take advantage of. There is also ongoing upgrade of our facilities at Kuje and Suleja correctional centres”.
Earlier in his brief, the Director Defence Media Operation, Major General Edward Buba, explained that the joint press conference is under the auspices of the Strategic Communications Interagency Advisory Policy Committee, coordinated by Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The committee, he said, serves as the umbrella body for the spokespersons of all Nigerian security and response agencies, facilitating unified and strategic communication to highlight the collective activities of our agencies over the past year.
These collaborations, General Buba said, has ensured that our security operations are comprehensive, strategic, and effective, stressing that it will go a long way to counter misinformation, disinformation and fake news.
He noted that the Office of the National Security Adviser has been pivotal in coordinating national security strategies and ensuring synergy among various security agencies.
According to him, “During the period under review, ONSA successfully hosted the High Level Africa Counter Terrorism Meeting. The meeting brought together African Heads of Government, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who served as the host President, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, and leaders of other key global bodies. The discussions during the meeting focused on stability in the Sahel Region. Overall, at the end of it all, the discussions garnered significant commitments to combat terrorism and violent extremism. Relatedly, the Office facilitated the second leg of the UK-Nigeria security and defence dialogue, bringing together security and defence chiefs from both countries.
Furthermore, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the ONSA initiated series of economic security measures against currency manipulators and speculators”.
On the AFN, he noted that “during the month of May 23 to Jun 24, the potency of the terrorists was largely degraded with 9,303 terrorist neutralized, 6,988 terrorists including their logistic suppliers and informants arrested, while 4641 hostages were rescued.Notably, 9,562 Boko Haram/ISWAP combatant fighters and their families surrendered to security forces. In the fight against oil theft, 1,437 perpetrators were apprehended, with 363 neutralized. Additionally, 245 kidnapped hostages were rescued, leading to a marked improvement in prevention of crude oil theft. The joint operational environment coupled the synergy with other security and intelligence agencies greatly assisted in the optimal performance of troops in the conduct of operations.
Gen Buba also reeled out achievements from other services, intelligence, security and paramilitary institutions, stressing that the increased patrols and international collaborations of the NN, led to a substantial reduction in piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea.
Other notable achievements in the last twelve months, he said, include the prevention of oil theft which denied the oil theft of an estimated sum of N91,247,052,565.10.
He said that troops equally discovered and destroyed 3,051 dugout pits, 1,276 boats, 3,924 storage tanks, and 408 vehicles, adding that the NN anti crude oil theft operations recovered significant quantities of illegally refined petroleum products, amounting to millions of litres.
On the intelligence sector, Gen. Buba said, the DSS and other intelligence agencies play a critical role in safeguarding national security through intelligence gathering and covert operations.
He stressed that the seamless interagency coordination, ensured timely utilisation of provided intelligence.
“For instance, intelligence-led operations have prevented numerous terrorist attacks and criminal activities. Indeed, several high-profile terrorist Commanders and their associates were either taken off the battlefield or apprehended across multiple states. These prevented potential catastrophic incidents. Intelligence activities led to several confiscations which included illegal items such as IEDs, firearms, ammunition, and dangerous psychoactive substances. Over 21,000 pump action cartridges, 440 pump action rifles, and 228,741 rounds of ammunition were seized. Other items include seized suicide jackets and lethal weapons. These seizures prevented potential attacks on citizens and security forces,” General Buba, concluded.
