Police lost N1.9bn through court orders — IGP

From ODIMMEGWA JOHNPETER, Abuja

THE Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase on Wednesday said the Police have lost N1.9 billion in its Treasury Single Account (TSA) due to court orders in several cases where the Force was held liable. Arase spoke in Abuja at the inaugural annual police lawyers’ conference and the inauguration of the officers and council members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) police lawyers’ forum.

He said: “My last count shows that over N1.9 billion of police funds in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) are being garnisheed.”

Arase added that: “If this situation is not urgently addressed, the Police may not be able to perform its functions as the limited budgetary allocations will be needlessly lost to garnishee actions.”

ALSO SEE: Police warn persons in possession of prohibited firearms to surrender them

He stated that the conference organized to reinvigorate the capacity of Police Lawyers by creating a unique platform where they can network and deepen their knowledge and skills has become imperative. He said this is more important in the light of the recent passage of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.

He tasked the lawyers to highlight approaches that support systematic collection, preservation and presentation of evidence in court to enhance successes in the prosecution of criminal cases.

Arase pointed out that there is need to entrench the principles of fundamental human rights values in Nigeria statutes books and other international human rights instruments on police lawyers to usher a culture of policing rooted in respect for the rights of the citizens.