The Inspector General of Police(IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has disowned police officers found escorting 113 Chinese and Malaysian nationals recently arrested for cybercrimes in Abuja, the FCT.
He said the unscrupulous police officers who were on an illegal duty had since been arrested and detained along with their Unit Commanders
Egbetokun made this known at a workshop organised for the standardization of criminal investigations for Heads of Police investigation Units nationwide in Abuja.
The IGP, while answering journalists’ questions on why the police provided the foreigners with security, during the workshop, said: “Yes, it is true that some policemen were also seen protecting these foreigners, and the policemen have been arrested. We found out that the policemen were on illegal duty. Nobody deployed them.
“They were not properly deployed for that assignment, So they were performing illegal duties, and they will be dealt with accordingly. “
It would be recalled that on November 4, the police announced the arrest of 130 suspects linked to high-level cybercrimes – hacking and related activities threatening national security.
The group included 113 foreign nationals—87 men and 26 women—mainly from China and Malaysia, as well as 17 Nigerian collaborators.
The IGP, while noting that there are individuals in the society, especially employers of labour and big businessmen, who deserve police protection, said: “That, again, does not remove the fact that we have to deploy for the protection of certain individuals in our society. There are VIPs that the police have to protect.
“There are big businessmen, employers of labour. There are individuals who have thousands of Nigerians in their organizations. Such individuals deserve protection.
“Because if anything happens to them, you can imagine what will happen to their businesses. You can imagine the effects that are going to have on the unemployment rates in our country. So, such individuals, we look at their position in society.
“We look at what they contribute to the economy of the country. And we decide whether they need police protection or not.”
The IGP, who also spoke on the arrested minors, clarified that they were not arrested for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests but for looting and destruction of public infrastructure.
“I don’t want to make any categorical statement on this issue again, after the intervention of Mr. President. I just want to thank Mr. President for his fatherly intervention to give those children pardon. But I want to use this opportunity to correct an impression,” he said.
“The impression that those minors were arrested for participating in the End Bad Governance protest. That is a wrong narrative. It is not true.
“The police did not arrest anybody who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest. We arrested criminals who took advantage of the protest to cause destruction to public infrastructure, to destroy private businesses, and to commit arson. Those ones cannot be regarded as protesters. The police did not arrest any protesters.
“But we arrested the criminals. So it’s a wrong narrative. It is mischievous for anybody to push the narrative that those 76 suspects who were arraigned in court were people who participated in the End Bad Governance protest.
“We have said time and time that to protest is a right of citizens.They were captured on video looting people’s businesses, destroying private businesses, and destroying public infrastructure. And you want the police to look the other way and leave them, allow them to continue the destruction? No society will progress like that.”
The one-day workshop was designed to enhance professionalism and standardization of criminal investigations and refine the investigative practice of every investigative detective in the Nigeria Police Force, ensuring thorough and unbiased procedures and the commitment to safeguarding the foundations of justice.
