commissioner of police Dandaura Mustapha:
“The seemingly unending violent robberies that have characterized the
nearly Month-long lockdown ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari to
contain the rampaging Covid-19 disease in Nigeria are certainly some of
the most disturbing human rights violations that the Federal Government
of Nigeria must not just be seen to be combating through mere newspaper
propaganda but must be confronted heavily with every intelligence-les
crime fighting might that is available to the Armed forces of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
With the above summation, the Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy group-:
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has challenged
President Muhammadu Buhari to address this emerging violence in parts of
Lagos, Ogun and other States with a view to activating effective and
efficient crimes fighting mechanisms including the setting up of a joint
military; para-military and Police taskforces to be coordinated by the
office of the Chief of Defence Staff to immediately stamp out these
armed marauders who have made living very intoleranly harsh in those
aforementioned States under total curfew.
HURIWA has also in a related development condemned the reckless
redeployment of the Rivers State’s COMMISSIONER of Police Mustspha
Dandaura by the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu after a week
that the Aviation minister and Cousin of President Muhammadu Buhari in
the person of Senator Hadi Sirika carpeted the Police chief for
agreeing to enforce a state-wide curfew in Rivers State by Governor
Nyesom Wike which culminated in the arrest, detention and prosecution in
the Rivers State’s High court of two Pilots of Caverton Helicopters by
the Rivers State Government for flouting the executive order issued
lawfully by Governor Nyesom Wike which had imposed restrictions of
movements into Rivers State.
HURIWA in the Statement has tasked the Inspector General of Police
Mohammed Adamu to speak on another allegation that the then Rivers
State’s Police Commissioner reputed as one of the best Crime fighting
cops in the Country was redeployed because he allegedly refused to
capitulate to the political pressures from powerful politicians with
connections to the powers that be in the nation’s capital to release one
Mr. Adamu Musa an alleged member of a gang of kidnappers that reportedly
assassinated former Rivers State’s governorship Candidate Mr. Soalabo
West last month. ” We learnt from the grapevine that pressure mounted
unsuccessfully on the now redeployed Police Commissioner Mustapha
Dandaura to free his “Kinsman the SUSPECTED kidnapper and alleged Killer
Adamu Musa”.
HURIWA lamented that the cocktails of allegations against the Inspector
General of Police Mohammed Adamu on his inexplicable removal of the
Rivers State’s COMMISSIONER of Police Mustapha Dandaura who was doing so
well and who has successfilly cracked many complex crimes including the
arrest of the dreaded serial killer of dozens of women Mr. Gracious
David West and has successfully destroyed several feared armed
kidnapping gangsters has come at a time that the police Inspector
General of Police has failed to prosecute the hundreds of kidnappers the
police parades in the media for msny months.
Also in the words of the RIGHT’S promotion and protection platform
(HURIWA), it is unfortunate that under the current Inspector General of
Police Mohammed Adamu hundreds of armed Fulani herdsmen and kidnappers
have been reportedly arrested and paraded before the media and soon
after the nation continues to witness armed kidnappings by armed Fulani
herdsmen and other armed groups just as HURIWA carpeted the Police chief
for not accounting to the people of Nigeria on the exact status and
whereabouts of these deadly mass killers that his office frequently
paraded without any meaningful or constructive prosecution both by him
and the Federal Attorney General and minister of justice Alhaji Abubakar
Malami (SAN).
“The allegation that the former police crime fighting chief Mustapha
Dandaura was sacrificed on the alter of prebendalism and Ethnic politics
and for resisting pressure to release a suspected murderer is a very
serious charge that must be looked at holistically and addressed
transparently because it is unnatural that a commissioner of police who
is performing optimally well to combat violent crimes and criminality
can just be uprooted from his beat and relegated to the office task of
the provost of Police. What will he be doing there as provost of Police?
Will he go after criminals in police uniform or what and why is this
posting happening at this time of health emergency that all hands need
to be on deck? Is the Inspector General of Police creating the
impression that commissioners of police should not implement lawful
orders made by state governors for the maintenance of law and order in
their states of posting? This removal to put it mildly is a huge
POLITICAL miscalculation that has thrown up the issue of how so well
committed is the federal police ready to work for the public good of the
36 states of the Federation independent of party politics of ABUJA or
the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari”.
HURIWA said: ” It is a widely reported facts with wide ranging evidence
and eye witnessess that just barely a week into the lockdown order
declared in Ogun, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on
March 29 by the President, Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), that it has become
apparent that the Nigerian Police Force and even the Department of
States Services (DSS) are not in anyway prepared or adequately deployed
to maintain law and order and infact the primary ingredient of
maintenance of law and order in the twenty First century has to do with
the CONSTITUTIONALLY mandated and obligated duty of providing security
to life and property of the Citizens.”
“We then ask why the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration would
declare a total lockdown for law abiding Nigerians and never envisaged
the possibility and inevitability of the grave risks posed to the lives
of Nigerians by armed robbers and other armed marauders including armed
Fulani herdsmen who are now terrorizing Mbaise in Imo State, parts of
Delta and PLATEAU States? Why subject Nigerians observing the curfew to
the harsh realities of having to stay away from work but to
continuously being attacked viciously by all sorts of armed hoodlums? We
have received dozens of save our souls calls from distressed Nigerians
under violent robbery attacks in many areas of Lagos state”.
HURIWA said it was worried that some victims of the robberies were
actually sent a notice by the armed hoodlums and wondered why the armed
security forces trained and equipped to combat violent crimes are
usually no where to be found when these violent crimes are going on even
to the ridiculous extent that the robbers robbed Nigerians with POS and
could spend several hours without the arrival of the armed police.
The Rights group HURIWA said the best panacea is for the President to
have constituted or to now constitute a Special joint security task
forces under the command and control of the nation’s Chief of Defence
staff to coordinate a wide and effective fight against these armed
marauders terrorizing Nigerians who are observing the COVID-19 LOCKDOWN.
” HURIWA strongly believes that the Nigerian Police Force has become too
POLITICALLY DILUTED and have lost their professional soul to COMBAT
armed marauders. The President must think out of the box and come up
with a quick win mechanism to nip in the bud these cases of armed
violent attacks against the Nigerian citizens. The President needs to
set up special taskforce composed of all armed security forces to comb
the streets and eradicate these armed marauders terrorizing Nigerians
who are observing the compulsory lockdown. Alternatively, the Lagos and
ogun State governments should set up armed vigilantees to check these
acts of violent criminality”.
Speaking on the redeployment of the Rivers State’s COMMISSIONER of
Police Mustapha Dandaura by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed
Adamu, HURIWA condemned it as unprofessional, cowardly and a bad
development for constitutional democracy.
HURIWA recalled that according to a statement by Force Spokesman, DCP
Frank Mba, the Inspector General of Police ordered the posting and
redeployment of three senior Police Officers to different commands,
formation and departments just as while the former CP of Rivers State,
Dandaura Mustapha was made Provost of the Force Headquarters in Abuja,
he was replaced by CP Joseph Gobum Mukan even as the third officer who
was redeployed was CP Musa Adze, who is to become Commissioner of P
olice Anti-Fraud unit.
HURIWA however dismissed the hurriedly packaged redeployment of two
other senior figures of the Nigerian Police Force as a mere subterfuge
to cover up the subterranean punishment of the erstwhilst Rivers State’s
COMMISSIONER of Police Mustapha Dandaura for professionally sticking to
his constitutional oath of office to work for the public interest of
Nigerians rather than pandering to the pressures or whims/caprices of
some sponsors of Ethnic genocides and elements unhappy with the progress
of highly excellent professional enforcement of law and order in Rivers
state governed by an opposition governor of the peoples Democratic Party
Mr. Nyesom Wike who is widely acclaimed by his people to be a promoter
of good governance.