By Remi Adebayo
The Nigeria Police Force has invited Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to substantiate a claim he allegedly made at the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference in Port Harcourt, River State that police officers at checkpoints along major highways relay information to kidnappers and bandits on the identity and movement of travellers to facilitate abductions for ransom.
In a statement on Thursday in Abuja, Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, said the Police takes all allegations concerning the conduct of its personnel seriously.
The Police therefore firmly rejected the allegations as unsubstantiated and unfairly damaging to an institution entrusted with the protection of millions of Nigerians.
Iniedu maintained that, "Allegations of this gravity demand a corresponding standard of evidence", noting that such standard has not yet been met.
"For the avoidance of doubt, police personnel deployed to checkpoints and other locations nationwide are there to prevent crime, detect criminal activity and protect citizens, not to facilitate kidnapping," he said.
He added that these same police officers routinely confront the very criminal elements alleged to be receiving such information, stressing that, "Police personnel have been ambushed, attacked and killed, while police stations, formations and operational assets have equally been targeted by terrorists, kidnappers and other violent criminals".
Iniedu further stated that the Force is made up of hundreds of thousands of officers who report for duty daily under difficult, underfunded, and often dangerous conditions, "many of them at checkpoints exposed to the very criminal elements they are trying to keep off our roads".
He described as deeply demoralising, the sweeping public accusations that paint the entire Force as complicit in the crimes it exists to prevent and unfair to the majority who serve with integrity. "Where individual officers are found to have compromised their duty, they will face the full weight of internal discipline and the law. But an entire institution should not be condemned on the strength of a public statement made without evidence".
"Accordingly, the Nigeria Police Force hereby invites Mr. Martins Vincent Otse to produce, without delay, the evidence upon which he based these serious allegations, including any evidence that police personnel at checkpoints identify wealthy individuals and subsequently transmit information about them to kidnappers for the purpose of facilitating their abduction.
"Any such information will be treated with urgency and investigated thoroughly. We encourage any member of the public with credible evidence of officer misconduct to come forward through these channels rather than through public allegation alone, so that appropriate action can be taken," Police assured.
Iniedu, in the statement assured that the Police remained committed to transparency and accountability. "We will continue to investigate all credible allegations of misconduct, however they arise, and we will not hesitate to act where wrongdoing is established".
It however, averred that the sacrifices of its personnel and the integrity of the institution will not be casually diminished by unverified allegations.
"Anyone with credible evidence of misconduct should bring it forward through the appropriate channels for investigation in accordance with the law.
"The Force calls on members of the public to exercise responsibility in making and sharing allegations concerning national security institutions and to distinguish between legitimate criticism, which strengthens accountability, and unsubstantiated claims, which can endanger public trust and national security," the statement added.
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