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Abba Kyari: Court to rule March 22 on request to quash charge
A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed March 22 to rule on an application filed by the suspended (Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari and three other suspended police officers.
They are challenging the competence of criminal charges on which they are being tried.
Justice Emeka Nwite chose the date for ruling after listening to submissions by lawyers to the prosecution and defence.
The former IRT boss was also charged alone with attempting to obstruct NDLEA officials in the conduct of their activities by offering them bribe.
Arguing the application yesterday, lead defence lawyer, Nureni Jimoh, SAN, prayed the court to quash the charge and discharge clients on the grounds that the defendants, who are serving police officers, were yet to be subjected to the internal disciplinary action of the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) and the Police Service Commission (PSC), as required by law.
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The senior advocate contended that the failure on the part of the complainant (NDLEA) to await the outcome of the disciplinary mechanisms of the NPF in relation to his clients has rendered the charge incompetent and denied the court jurisdiction to proceed with the trial.
He argued that the utilisation of the internal disciplinary mechanisms of the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) and Police Service Commission (PSC) provided by the Constitution was a condition precedent before the defendants could be subjected to any external prosecution.
Nureni further argued that though the disciplinary action taken by the NPC and PSC had commenced earnestly and the applicants had previously answered queries issued to them by the police authorities before this charge was filed against the applicants, the charge wrongly truncated the disciplinary procedure commenced by these authorities.
He claimed that the officers were unable to stand trial before the Force Disciplinary Committee because they were arrested by the NDLEA.
“It is an administrative procedure of the police. The NDLEA only went and hijacked it,” Nureni said.
He stressed that the disciplinary power of the PSC cannot be shared with anybody or agency, including the NDLEA.
Responding, prosecuting lawyer, Joseph Sunday, opposed the application and prayed the court to dismiss it.
Sunday contended that most of the cases cited by the senior lawyer did not relate with Police Service Act, saying the instant charge against the defendant was a criminal matter.
He argued that the defendants have not, either by their application or affidavit evidence, established any condition precedent required before the filing of the charge.
“To that extent, their application failed and bereft of any factual evidence,” he said.
He urged the court to dismiss the application and proceed with the trial.
The Nation
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200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has disclosed that about 200,000 repentant terrorists have so far dropped their arms and surrendered to troops in the North East, noting that the twin strategy of kinetic and non-kinetic operations was responsible for this achievement.
The CDS made this known at the Security and Justice Symposium organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with the British High Commission, which began at the National Counterterrorism Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
He disclosed that the theme of the symposium, ”Securing Peace, Ensuring Justice, Protection, Conduct, and Accountability,” speaks volumes about the deluge of security challenges the armed forces and security agencies are facing.
His words, “All the challenges we are facing today have to do with fairness, equity, justice, and accountability.
“There will not be peace without justice, equity, fairness, and accountability. In our operations, we are conducting both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, which have to a large extent yielded significant successes, and we want to particularly thank the National Security Adviser for his great support in this regard.
“Nigeria is going through so many challenges, and we feel we’re able to address this, and everybody has a sense of belonging. A lot of the security challenges we are having, we are sure, will go down. I want to thank the National Security Advisor for all the support he’s given us, both the kinetic and the non-kinetic.
“We have said it; the kinetic aspect is just less than 30%. The non-kinetic has a lot to play. The non-kinetic, because when you have democracy, people must have the evidence of democracy. As long as it tells people to sleep well and be peaceful, and they are hungry, their children cannot eat, and all this creates more problems.
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“The issue of informants. We have to look at how we tackle this issue of informants. Because these are the people who have created the issue.
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
metro
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
The spokesperson for the police in Delta State, SP Bright Edafe, has confirmed the death of two robbery suspects in the state.
Mr Edafe, who disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Warri, said that the deceased were killed from the bullets shot by their gang members.
According to him, the incident occurred on Wednesday at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Edafe explained that the deceased were leading the police surveillance team attached to the Ekpan Division to their hideout when they were caught during a shoot-out.
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“The suspects were arrested at Effurun roundabout with a bag containing 57 live cartridges and other items. They were leading the surveillance team to their hideout at Warri/Sapele road when their gang members, on sighting the vehicle of the police team, engaged them in a shootout.During the gun duel, the arrested suspects that were leading the police team were fatally wounded by the gun shot of their colleagues. The two injured suspects were taken to the hospital and later died while receiving treatment,” he said.
Mr Edafe said that items recovered from the hoodlums hideout included: one English pump action gun, one locally made cut-to-size gun and eight live cartridges.
Others were: six iPhones, Smart phones and a Rolex wrist watch.
He said that the command had intensified manhunt on the fleeing members of the gang.
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
(NAN)
metro
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