Kidnap suspects petition Buhari, IGP, demand case transfer to Abuja

Three brothers held by the Nasarawa state Police Command, on the allegation of kidnapping, have accused the latter of demanding N35 million from them to secure their freedom.

The brothers, Alhaji Bawa Adamu, Abdullahi Adamu and Ibrahim Bawa, who said they were arrested on April 15 by the police, following information by two police informants that they were involved in kidnap activities, added that the police had been forcing them to admit to the crime “besides demanding for payment of N35 million for our release.”

In a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali, dated June 9, which was signed by their lawyer and head of Oghenovo O. Otemu Chambers in Abuja, Oghenovo O. Otemu, and obtained by Blueprint, the three brothers alleged that “out 17 persons arrested, 12 were released upon payment for their bail, while the police refused to release them and two others insisting that N35 million be paid.”

“Our clients are seriously sick and are not being cared for. The police in Nasarawa state have also refused to thoroughly and un-biasedly investigate the case as they are working with informants to undermine your authority by keeping them in detention under harsh conditions, with a bid to coercing them to succumb to paying the N35 million.

“Consequently, we humbly appeal to you to use your good offices to direct the Inspector General of Police to cause a transfer of this case from the Nasarawa state Police Command to an unbiased team of investigators here in Abuja for a thorough investigation into this matter to see that justice prevails,” the petition read in part.

However, in a swift response to the allegation, the Nasarawa state police commissioner, Bola Longe, dismissed the allegation, saying the Command “cannot be associated with it, given its zero stance for corruption.”

Longe said as soon as the suspects were arrested, pressure had been mounting from different quarters for their release, adding that his insistence that the law must take its course prompted the petitioners to go to the highest command to seek the release of the suspects.

“We are firmed. The Command would not be intimidated by the petitions flying from every corner,” he said.