The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris has inaugurated the
\nrecently constituted joint investigative panel on the Dec. 10 legislative
\nre-run elections in Rivers.<\/p>\n
The 15-man panel, headed by DCP Damien Okoro, consists of officers of the
\npolice and the Department of State Services (DSS) with investigative,
\nforensic and technical expertise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe panel which is to conduct its investigation in conjunction with a
\nteam from the Department of States Services (DSS) has the following terms
\nof reference:<\/p>\n
\u201cOne, Conduct a thorough investigation into the role of security agents
\nbefore, during and after the election;<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo, examine the role of any police officer or security agent whose
\nactions or activities individually or collectively was detrimental to the
\ngood conduct of the elections;<\/p>\n
\u201cThree, conduct a forensic analysis on the audio report released by Sahara
\nReporters as it concerns the election.<\/p>\n
\u201c Four, examine any other matter that is relevant to the conduct of the
\nelections, and make recommendations and implementation strategies to guide
\nfuture elections.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
He also charged the panel to probe the violence that marred the exercise
\nin which two police officers were gruesomely murdered.<\/p>\n
He noted that the 1999 Constitution and other relevant laws empowered the
\npolice to conduct investigations into criminal matters across the entire
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
The I-G gave the committee 30 days with effect from Dec. 17 to submit its
\nfindings.<\/p>\n
Idris said that four suspects had so far been arrested in connection with
\nthe murder of two officers, while two rifles had been recovered.<\/p>\n
The I-G said that the police was an apolitical organisation that must not
\nget involved in politics, adding that its interest was to ensure
\nhitch-free elections.<\/p>\n
He solicited the support and cooperation of all well-meaning Nigerians,
\nespecially INEC and the Rivers State Government, to enable the panel
\nsucceed in its assignment.<\/p>\n
Responding, Okoro, thanked the I-G for the confidence reposed in the
\ncommittee, adding that they will be guided by relevant extant laws in the
\ndischarge of the assignment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris has inaugurated the recently constituted joint investigative panel on the Dec. 10 legislative re-run elections in Rivers. The 15-man panel, headed by DCP…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n