The Yobe Police Command has denied a report on an online media platform claiming that two of its personnel were involved in the Potiskum robbery.
In a statement issued by the command’s spokesperson, DSP Dungus Abdulkarim, in Damaturu on Friday, the command also denied protecting the accused police officers and interfering with judicial proceedings.
He described the report published on November 7, titled “Police disrupt judicial proceedings, eliminate colleagues accused of theft in Yobe,” as “misleading and malicious.”
“Not a single police personnel has barged into a magistrate’s court to release accused persons.
“We have no record of robberies involving police personnel in Potiskum or any other local government area in the state.
“To set the record straight, on February 23 at 4:30 PM, an accident occurred in the Zangon Alhazai area of Potiskum involving a truck and a motorcycle.
“ASC Abubakar Umar of the Nigerian Correctional Service applied for bail for the driver, which was granted.
“However, police refused to release the vehicle as the victim was still receiving treatment and investigations into reckless and dangerous driving.
“This led to an argument, resulting in Umar’s arrest for obstruction,” Abdulkarim said.
The area commander exercised procedural diligence and ordered the staff to return to the station as the case concerned the enforcement of basic human rights, a high-caliber matter that fell outside the jurisdiction of the magistrate.
“At no point did police personnel invade the court or forcibly take back colleagues,” he said.
He urged the newspaper in question to immediately retract the report and issue an unconditional apology to the command or face legal action.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the State Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had earlier asked the Commissioner of Police, Mr Garba Ahmed, to investigate and prosecute the Area Commander.
The President, Mrs Altine Ibrahim, told NAN that the union also demanded that the police comply with the court order and remand the relevant staff to the Medium Correctional Centre, Potiskum.
She described the police actions as an “unacceptable invasion of the court” and said that “no one is above the law.”