Nigeria Police Redeploy Zamfara DPO Accused of Working With Bandits

- Controversy is brewing in Zamfara state after a police officer was transferred away from an area under controversial circumstances

- The police officer had been accused by the people in the area of conniving with armed bandits

- Police authorities in the state, however, transferred the officer after the allegations were made

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The Zamfara state police command has redeployed its Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Kaura-Namoda following allegations of conniving with bandits terrorising the area.

Mohammed Shehu, the command’s spokesman, in a statement on Monday, March 16 announced the transfer of the unnamed DPO.

The Cable reports that before the transfer, residents in the area had accused the DPO of working with bandits to terrorise their area.

Shehu's statement, however, noted that no formal complaints have been lodged against the police officer.

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Part of the statement read:

“The command enjoins members of the public, especially the aggrieved community, that any person or group with credible evidence against the DPO, should come to the police command headquarters and assist in the ongoing investigation.”

The statement revealed that the police authorities in the state have redeployed the DPO to the police command headquarters as OC provost, while Umar Abdullahi, an assistant commissioner of police, has been appointed as acting DPO of the division.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd) has restated that the federal government won't negotiate with bandits.

Monguno made the comment on Thursday, March 11 during an interaction with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

In a related development, a coalition of 15 northern-based civil society organisations on Wednesday, March 3 accused some northern governors of turning the rising cases of kidnapping and banditry in the region into money-spinning ventures.

The groups under the umbrella of Non-State Actors Consultative Forum (NOSACOF) made the accusation at a press briefing in Kano state.

Speaking at the briefing, the co-convener of the coalition, Mr. Ibrahim Waiya, alleged that political actors in north Nigeria have devised a new strategy to swindling public resources through negotiation with bandits.

Jerrywright Ukwu is an Abuja-based senior political/defence correspondent at Legit.ng. He is a graduate of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos and the International Institute of Journalism in Abuja. He is also a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. He spends his leisure-time reading history books. He can be reached via email at jerrywright39@yahoo.com.

Source: Legit.ng