Mallam Yusuf Alli presents SAEMA Award 2019 to Twins Police Officers, Hassan and Husseini Gimba in Abuja

In September 2019, over a dozen entries were received nominating DCP Abba Kyari for a certain category of the First Security and Emergency Management Awards (SAEMA). At that time and up till recently, the now-suspended police officer was the most celebrated crime-buster in the Nigeria Police Force, leading him to be given the sobriquet of a “Supercop” for his extraordinary, if not close to legendary, prowess in tracking down and nabbing armed robbers and kidnappers.

The Chairperson of the awards panel, retired Air Vice Marshall Mohammed Audu-Bida, while considering other factors, urged members of the panel to reach out to senior officers in the security services for their comments on the process and probably put forward more nominations of potential awardees in the various categories being rewarded.

Thereafter, more nominations of gallant but unsung security personnel were received, especially from the Police, which have many officers who are mostly involved in intelligence and combat operations.

The former FCT Police Commissioner, now Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Bala Ciroma, had eloquent testimonies of how he had led officers and men of the Command in discreet operations that culminated in the arrests and occasional elimination of vicious armed gangs that were terrorising and abducting innocent people. Some of the cases and suspects were subsequently referred to the Force Headquarters or other security services for further actions.

Rather than accept his nomination, Ciroma had suggested a very thorough and disciplinarian female police officer, CSP Olabisi Davies, who was DPO at Wuye, which had become one of the most peaceful districts in Abuja. The policewoman was always on patrol at night, seeking out those involved in nefarious activities, usually under the cover of darkness. She also had a track record of successfully turning young offenders into productive citizens through counselling in the district.

Similarly, one DCP Kolo Yusuf, who had also led his team to capture over 100 kidnappers terrorizing innocent people in mostly the North-West and North-Central zones, politely declined his nomination for an award but rather recommended the twin police officers, Hassan and Hussaini Gimba, who were noted as developing remarkable profiles in crime-fighting in his team.

The twins have appeared on several verified videos clips interrogating arrested criminals, whose sophisticated weapons and arms had equally been wrested from them and put forward as exhibits. Strangely too, the twin officers had insisted that unless the Police Headquarters endorsed their nomination, they could not honour the award events.

There was also another counter-terrorism police officer, CSP Ibrahim Mohammed, who had not only competently engaged ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists in combat, but had led his team on several rescue operations involving citizens, including soldiers, who were delivered from the vice-grip of the insurgents in Borno State.

In fact, the story of DCP Tunji Disu, who replaced Abba Kyari, constitutes another chapter entirely. Disu has saved many lives, especially those of youths and young graduates, who could have found themselves either as victims or engaged in fraud and other criminal activities. It was only when it had become absolutely necessary, and there was unassailable evidence of wrongdoing that Disu ever agreed to the public parade of crime suspects.

There are indeed many security personnel in the Force today, who are performing exceedingly well in their areas of responsibility and would rather keep low profiles than cultivate unnecessary public exposure, due to the sensitive nature of their assignments. They are the unsung security personnel but highly dedicated to the protection of the lives and properties of which only a very few are ever celebrated.

While it is regrettable that Abba Kyari allowed overzealousness, exuberance and indiscretion to define his actions in his security and law enforcement duties, I would rather blame the society, his media handlers and the Police Force for what is now deemed as his fall from grace to grass.

Even though society naturally appreciates the gallantry of our security agencies and officials, it was quite unfortunate that many top public functionaries and business people were inviting DCP Kyari to their events and posting such engagements in the media to ratchet up their social standing. And yet ill-advisedly too, instead of becoming very cautious about some of these outings, Kyari appeared to have gotten carried away and revelled in the spotlight, leading to the abuse of the privileges and disposition of his sensitive strategic positions, in hobnobbing with people of questionable integrity, and equally posting these on social media platforms.

While the media developed interests in his exploits as a crime fighter, they allowed him or his media handlers to promote his efforts, rather than those of his team to the high heavens. This became one of his major Achilles heels. There is a huge gulf between the practice of public relations and the indulgence in publicity as an end in itself. In PR, not all activities need to be publicised or promoted because of the potential fallouts of such exposure. Some publicity in terms of policing or security duties could end up enabling the reprisal intents of the targets of one’s exertions, besides the envy of peers and enemies that comes which such territory.

As an institution with moral and ethical values, the Police appeared not to have been able to tame Kyari, even when he was showing up in very lousy places for the glitz of the celebrity showcase. Instead of reprimanding and curtailing him, the command seemed to have gotten caught up in the cult of the celebrity of an individual, rather than the celebration of the team. In fact, when his younger sister got married in 2019, the creme de la creme of society ‘stormed’ Maiduguri, including the then Inspector General of Police, among top dignitaries, in what was a high society event witnessing guest arrivals in different aircraft.

Meanwhile, DCP Kyari’s case still hangs on the balance. Before the American FBI went public in indicting him, as it has done, it ought to have contacted its Nigerian counterpart with the overwhelming evidence it had against the super cop, as it is traditionally the case. Even at that, it might be difficult to perfect the extradition of Abba Kyari to the United States of America on technical grounds, alongside other militating factors. Similar indictments by the American system against prominent Nigerians were not consummated in the extradition of these personalities. There was the case of a politician, Senator Buruji Kashamu, indicted for alleged illicit drug peddling, which was ongoing before he died, and there is the example of the owner of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, over money laundering claims, as recent references.

While he could attempt to hide under the concept of an agent provocateur to defend himself in this situation, nevertheless his work as an undercover operative is not known. In fact, agent provocateurs are expected to act as secret agents encouraging suspected criminals to carry out their illegal activities as a way of obtaining evidence. However, Abba Kyari could not be said to fit into this role because he has been widely promoted as a known or overt crime fighter.

My greatest concern has been the huge damage this affair has done to our law enforcement services, as a well-decorated officer considered as one of our finest, who had taken enormous risks in resolving fighting crime and saving lives (winning laurels, accolades and swift promotions) is suddenly discovered to have gone rogue or compromised at some point.

There are a lot of lessons to be learnt from the Abba Kyari affair, especially by law enforcement officials on reputation management and the seductive adulation of the public spotlight.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author of Award-Winning Crisis Communication Strategies
www.YAShuaib.com

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“Our country is bedevilled… (by) multifarious security challenges by which each agency must bring its wealth of experience and comparative advantage to compliment the effort of another”- DG DSS

The current Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi Magaji made the above remarks in his keynote address, while hosting the meeting of the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA) on April 24.

The Forum was established in 2013 by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to enhance synergy and collaboration amongst critical institutions that deal with issues of security and its challenges in Nigeria.

As a sensitive security organ, the ONSA is statutorily empowered to coordinate the activities of military, security, intelligence and response agencies in combating terrorism, cybercrime and major issues affecting the wellbeing of the state in Nigeria. It is a known fact that during the previous administration, the ONSA hosted regular meetings of security and service chiefs in addressing issues that could create conflict in society.

While the meeting of the security chiefs was held almost every other week in ONSA, the meeting of FOSSRA was held rotationally among member-agencies every month until June 2015.

It is of utmost importance to highlight some instances when FOSSRA’s interventions doused tension and stabilised the polity within a climate of heightened agitations and security concerns in the country.

In June 2014, the then National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki officially tendered an apology to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, who was allegedly harassed by joint-security operatives at an international summit on Farmer-Herder Crisis in Kaduna. Both the former NSA and the Speaker are from the same royal family within the Sokoto sultanate, even if of different statuses. (Link: http://bit.ly/31HNERy)

Similarly, in one of the Army-Shi’ite altercations in Zaria, also in July 2014, during which some members and children of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky were killed by Nigerian soldiers, the Chairman of FOSSRA, who was then the Director of Defence Information, General Chris Olukolade, promptly issued an empathic statement, expressing regret over the incident and announcing that a panel would be constituted to unravel the remote causes of the fracas. The statement played a magical role in nipping the controversy in the bud. (Link: http://bit.ly/2TycxMD)

The following month, the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and two operatives of the Corps were allegedly disrespected and manhandled on different occasions by the Police. As the media were feasting on the controversy, the then spokesperson of the Nigerian Customs Service, Wale Adeniyi hosted the monthly meeting of FOSSRA in September 2014, where the erstwhile Police spokesperson, Emmanuel Ojukwu walked to the NSCDC spokesperson, Emmanuel Okeh and issued a joint statement which doused the tension. (Link: http://bit.ly/31G3eNg)

Meanwhile, since the appointment of Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd) as the National Security Adviser (NSA) by President Muhammad Buhari in 2015, he has neither shown keen commitment to nor hosted the meeting of the FOSSRA to guard against inter-agency rivalry. The meeting of the Forum, which has become occasional, is now being hosted by the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) and other security agencies that value synergy and collaboration in information management.

If FOSSRA, which is domiciled under the ONSA, is very active, the current acrimony between the Nigerian Army and the police over the killing of the Police’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) operatives by soldiers in Taraba State could have been averted. There would most likely have been an existing synergy and a more cordial relationship between these two prominent actors within the Nigerian security architecture and system.

It was alleged that soldiers of the 93 Battalion shot the IRT operatives – including Inspector Mark Ediale, Sergeant Usman Danzumi, and Sergeant Dahiru Musa – dead after they had arrested a notorious kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala Wadume, who is now on the run. The Army claims that the police officers were shot after being mistaken for “suspected kidnappers” and blames the attack on a communication gap.

The initial statement from the Police spokesperson, DCP Frank Mba and immediate response by the Army spokesperson, Colonel Sagir Musa, would have been needless if an effective mechanism of inter-agency collaboration, as exemplified by FOSSRA, had been adhered to.

There are trending videos, audios and sponsored stories on the fracas that need to be contained before they further exacerbate the present situation and persist as drivers of tension. It is quite unfortunate that many Nigerians on the social and mainstream media have continued to react to the incident through inciting, inflammatory and embarrassing innuendoes.

It may not be surprising if the two public relations officers of the security organs involved were actually taking orders from their principals, rather than abiding by the ethics of crisis communication management, which guide professionals on their temperament, conduct and how to shape their messages during periods of high volatility.

As spokespersons of security agencies, they are expected to be courteous, restrained and conscious of the need to show great human understanding and empathy in their public communications, at this sort of time when such really matters. It is also very important that their messages, like press releases, should be clear, concise, concrete, correct and complete, without allowing for any form of ambiguity in communication.

In all these, the absence of strategic leadership in dousing the tension, beyond the critical levels of the individual service chiefs, merely escalates the inter-agency antagonism and fuels the heated debates and fury pervading the media from visible and anonymous sources.

Is it not embarrassing that different panels were allegedly constituted to investigate this incident? While one is said to be chaired by a military officer in the rank of a major general, the other is noted as being headed by a security officer in the rank of an Assistant Inspector General of Police.

As the coordinating organ of government on security matters, ONSA should step in and manage this crisis, more professionally and with experience, especially in the absence of a federal cabinet, as the Ministers of Defence or that of Interior are yet to be sworn in. The NSA can advise the Army Chief Lt General Tukuru Buratai and Police Boss IG Mohammed Adamu on the need to urge their officers to exercise restraint. In the alternative, the Presidential Media Adviser should intervene by calling on the spokespersons of the agencies to sheath their swords in this attrition and highly unfortunate media war.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author of An Encounter with the Spymaster
yashuaib@yahoo.com

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“Please, in the name of God don’t fight or fire…” – DCP Usman Umar

The above were the last words of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Usman Umar, who was shot while attempting to rescue one of his officers, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sani Shehu, during a violent protest by members of the Islamic Movement In Nigeria (IMN), a Shi’ite group, in Abuja. Umar was later certified dead at the hospital.

As a Muslim and a Northerner, I am deeply concerned and worried about the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East, armed banditry in the North-West and the seeming uncontained Shi’ite protest in Abuja, North-Central Nigeria. The root causes of most crises in Nigeria are the disappearance of means of livelihoods, the lack of jobs and human insecurity, alongside the deepening incidence of poverty and immiseration. Also, ignorance, impunity, acts of lawlessness, the expressions of fanatical ideologies and sectional sentiments that are being exploited and manipulated by political elites.

On Wednesday, July 17, 2019, the Nigerian Police announced restriction on all forms of protests in Abuja to the Unity Fountain area, to contain what had become the daily processions and protests of Shi’ite members. The Force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba said that by that directive, intending protesters were expected to steer clear of all critical national infrastructure, especially in the “Three Arms Zone.”

A few days later, precisely on July 19, the Presidency issued a statement seemingly indicating the likelihood that the Buhari administration would obey a decision of the courts to release the leader of the Shi’ites in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Elzakzaky.

A presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, in the statement, said: “Rallies and street dances (by Shi’ites) ostensibly to openly insult the president and other leaders, threatening bloodshed, will lead nowhere… The Buhari administration has absolutely no hand in the on-going court case and the courts are free to determine the bail request and the outcome.”

In its reaction, the Shi’ites wondered how the Presidency would make such a claim when the government has contemptuously refused to obey court orders in this regard. In its statement dated July 21, the Shiite spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa, wrote that: “In December 2016, Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court freed Sheikh Zakzaky from the illegal detention ordered that he, along with his wife, be compensated to the tune of N50m, a house be provided for him in any part of the country he desires and security be provided for his protection. The Buhari government deliberately acted in contempt of court and refused to respect the judiciary. So which court is the presidency talking about that will decide the fate of our leader?”

The following day, July 22, Shi’ite members stormed Abuja with a procession that commenced from Wuse and moved towards the Three Arms Zone, which accommodates the Presidential Villa, National Assembly, and the Supreme Court.

When the procession was becoming rowdy and confrontational, DCP Umar, who had peacefully contained more than two-dozen Shi’ite protests in the last few months, thought he could re-enact his magic wand in pacifying and engaging the protesters to be peaceful.

As the Officer in Charge of Operations at the Abuja Police Command, Umar had saved many lives by defusing highly violent protests in the Federal Capital Territory in the past. A very religious, detribalised and patriotic Nigerian, DCP Umar had a golden rule, which he proudly announced to his team whenever they were on sensitive assignments. He often told members of his squad that: “Policing is not kill-and-go but a humane profession of saving humanity.”

In several instances whenever his team was provoked, he would always insist that live ammunition should not be fired. That was the same directive he had earlier issued on the day he was killed while on duty.

A few days after the death of the police officer, precisely on July 26, the judiciary designated the Shi’ite movement in Nigeria a terrorist group, after the Federal Government sought a court order to proscribe the group. Justice Nkeonye Maha who issued the order also restrained “any person or group of persons” from participating in any form of activity involving or concerning the IMN “under any name or platform” in Nigeria.

With this development, the Presidency should work with credible intelligence to ensure that the Shi’ite issue does not snowball into a major crisis that could worsen the current insecurity in the country, because radical ideologies are usually – rather, unfortunately – given further life through the use of coercive force on its subscribers or membership.

It is necessary to point out that Shi’ite members seem to be more sophisticated in their ideologies than similar groups, as they are scattered across diverse fields such as the academia, business, media, judiciary, military, security, civil service, and politics. Members of the movement don’t necessarily proclaim their affiliation but generally identify with the broader category of being Muslims and perform pilgrimage in Mecca without being stopped by their regional arch-rival, the Saudi-Arabia. Their foreign supporters, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran, have, to some extent, exercised restraint in the last four years of the Shi’ite issue in Nigeria, which simply indicates behind-the-scene workings of intelligence services and diplomatic efforts in keeping the matter from frothing to the surface.

Even the powerful Trump administration is struggling to counter Iran’s network of proxies across the globe, notably in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen. During the American war in Iraq, Iranian-linked Shi’ite militia hit foreign forces with lethal roadside bombs that penetrated even armoured vehicles. The Pentagon has officially disclosed that: “those attacks killed hundreds of U.S. troops between 2003-2010.” Several years after, the militia groups still wield significant influence in the country and elsewhere. Iran certainly knows how to exploit the chaos in some countries to promote its ideologies and interests in keeping its rivals off-balance.

In its efforts to address the challenges confronting our nation, the Presidency needs to deploy more sophisticated responses by thoughtfully engaging in diplomacy and negotiations for amicable solutions, rather than the utilisation of military or police force. When some Shi’ite members were killed in a similar altercation with the military in Zaria in 2014, not only did the Defence Headquarters tender an apology and set up a panel to look into the incident, President Goodluck Jonathan also personally reached out to and empathized with Sheikh El-Zakzaky for peace to reign. This is one approach that could be extended or built on.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author “An Encounter with the Spymaster”
www.YAShuaib.com

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The Publisher of PRNigeria, a press release platform for critical institutions, Yushau Shuaib has petitioned the Inspector General of Police(IGP) Mr. Ibrahim Idris over harassment and intimidation of his family members living in Abuja, especially the Gestapo style his family members were subjected to by a team of Policemen and woman from Lagos.

In a 30-paragraph letter addressed to the IGP dated September 11, 2017, the petitioner noted that the team from Lagos had claimed that Governor Ambode of Lagos state was aware of an alleged massive fraud committed in Lagos involving his Son, Gidado Shuaib.

The Police Team, led by one Inspector Babatunde (08056506863, 08081700099) who claimed to have arrived from the Office of the Lagos state Governor had initially informed the wife of the petitioner by telephone that they were from an MTN Team to deliver a seasonal gift to her, which raised suspicions from the wife before her eventual alarm, suspecting them to be a kidnap gang before nearby residents came to her rescue.

The petitioner also resisted the attempt to be taken to Lagos for questioning by the team stressing that he was not the suspect, a move also supported by the Divisional Police Officer of Wuye Police station, CSP Solome Hardy (Mrs.) who categorically told them she would never allow them to take him to Lagos because he was not the suspect of their investigation.

The Petitioner, Yushau Shuaib in the petition to the IGP is demanding the reason and justification for the harassment of himself and especially his wife who has been traumatized since then and undergoing medication and counselling.

Shuaib wrote: “The ridiculous treatment of myself and my wife with the detention in Wuye Police Station before our eventual release is not only appalling and scandalous but a calculated attempt to rubbish our hard-earned reputation, having used the last five years protecting and promoting the activities of security agencies in Nigeria.

“In fact, through PRNigeria Platform alone, we have syndicated and published over 300 official Press Releases from the Police in the last two years of the current administration as part of our social responsibility to our fatherland.

“While we have been threatened by terrorists and their sympathisers in the cause of our services, it is rather unfortunate that the police are now our tormentors.

“My fear, currently is not about me, my family or my son who will surely confront the Police with his lawyers over the reckless allegation on his return. My fear is: what may be happening to other ordinary Nigerians who do not have people in police or security agencies to put words on their behalf?

“Only God knows how many lives could have been lost with the kind of recklessness exhibited by the Lagos Police Team that engages in the gestapo-like operation of picking up people without providing the information on their alleged offences.”

The petitioner, therefore, urged the Police boss to provide clear information of the alleged offences purportedly committed by his son; to Direct one Inspector Babatunde (08056506863, 08081700099) to stop threatening them with phone calls insisting they must be in Lagos in the absence of their son. He also urged the police to tender unreserved apology for treating his family like a common criminal without adequate proof of the allegations.

Shuaib further disclosed that his ordeal contravenes a clear provision of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 which prohibits the arrest of another person in place of a suspect. He also pointed out that with the unprofessional and questionable manner of the Lagos Police Team, he urged the Police boss to transfer the case to any of your Special Investigation Units in the Force Headquarters or to the FCT Police Command

Shuaib said that with his strict monitoring and parental guidance over his children, he should also be held liable if his son is found guilty of the alleged offence. “I am not only a guardian but a Father in every sense of the word,” he concluded.

See below, the copy of the letter
By PRNigeria
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

September 11, 2017

Inspector General of Police
Nigeria Police Headquarters
Abuja

Sir,

LAGOS POLICE’S HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION OF FAMILY OF YUSHAU SHUAIB IN ABUJA
I write to report the harassment and intimidation of my family by a Police Team from Lagos who claimed to be from the Governor’s Office, Alausa Ikeja.

2. On August 21, 2017, my wife received a phone call purported to be from an MTN Team coming to deliver a seasonal gift to her. Suspicious of such gifts at a period of insecurity, their calls were ignored. With persistent calls, she told them she was going towards Wuye Market with her sister where they were accosted by four hefty men and a woman claiming to be from the Police.

3. When they attempted to bundle her into their white saloon car, she resisted by raising her voice, shouting for help. She learnt the trick of ‘shouting’ to evade abductions by suspected kidnappers who use names of security agencies to whisk away innocent victims.

4. Realising the implication of her “shout” that could attract a mob action, they accepted her request to trek together to a nearby Wuye Divisional Police Station for fear of abduction.

5. When I was alerted to the incident, I rushed to the police station on a pyjamas and bathroom slippers only to be detained by the policemen who now seized our telephones and were dialling different telephone numbers from them.

6. When I insisted on what offences we committed for our detention and search on our phones, they claimed that Governor Ambode of Lagos was aware of an alleged massive fraud committed in Lagos involving my Son, Gidado Shuaib.

7. Though shocked and traumatised by the experience and the so-called massive fraud in Lagos, I can conveniently without an iota of doubt, vouch and defend the integrity of all my children, who were not only trained to be of good character but were groomed to imbibe value of simplicity, humility, hard-work and sacrifice.

8. Gidado had travelled the previous day as Member of MediaTeam for the coverage of Hajj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

9. The police team insisted we should write official statements about our son and some of his friends who are mostly university students. They further insisted that my wife could be granted a bail, while I must follow them to Lagos that day in my pyjamas.

10. Intervention from well-meaning senior security officers, whom I have worked with over the years by virtue of my professional callings saved me from being taken to Lagos that morning. The DPO of Wuye Police Station, CSP Solome Hardy (Mrs.) was very categorical when she told them point-blank that she would never allow them to take me to Lagos because I was not the suspect of their investigation.

11. The police Team reluctantly accepted DPO’s position, especially on health ground and that I should bring my son to Lagos upon his return from the foreign trip.

12. Gidado, my first son and his siblings are not only well-brought up, they are exceptionally humble, simple and very obedient that they hardly go out to seek for favours.

13. On the police allegation of fraud in Lagos, Gidado has never spent a night in Lagos in the last five years. In fact, he was only in Lagos on a transit to connect with a foreign airline on a trip to New York to attend the annual United Nations Youths Assembly where he was invited as a delegate in 2015. He didn’t even return through Lagos but through Abuja Airport. He has therefore never spent a single night in Lagos in the last five years.

14. Since September 2016 to May 2017, Gidado had been in the United Kingdom pursuing a Master Degree Programme on Communication at the University of Westminster. He started the programme immediately after his graduation from the Baze University Abuja.

15. Apart from the fact that I opened Bank Accounts for my Children, I closely monitor their transactions which give me ideas on their spending.

16. I deliberately arranged for Gidado to be staying with a very humble guardian in London who guarded and guided him throughout his stay. Most of his expenses were routed through the same guardian.

17. As a father, I subjected him to live an austere life in London so that he could imbibe the spirit of endurance, piety and independence rather than develop an ostentatious lifestyle.

18. As the Publisher of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential and other media outlets, I ensure Gidado earns extra allowances by writings, proofreading, editing and publishing.

19. While at the Baze University Abuja, Gidado introduced a magazine, YouthsDigest which focuses on students, education and youths engagements. He doesn’t engage in any other business apart from that.

20. In recognition of his entrepreneurship skills, Gidado was recently voted and honoured by SME100 as one of the 25 Young Nigerians under the age of 25 who have inspired others to greatness.

21. It is painful, however, that I have to write this letter over supposedly unproven allegations against an innocent young Nigerian for an offence in an environment he was not used to.

22. It is also shocking that in this age of technological advancement with affordable tools for intelligence gathering, the police in Lagos have to waste human and material resources to identify and locate a young man that can be simply and easily identified and traced through the common ID Caller App and the social media Platforms. This is terribly embarrassing.

23. The ridiculous treatment of myself and my wife with the detention in Wuye Police Station, before our eventual release, is not only appalling and scandalous but a calculated attempt to rubbish our hard-earned reputation, having used the last five years protecting and promoting the activities of security agencies in Nigeria.

24. In fact, through PRNigeria Platform alone, we have syndicated and published over 300 official Press Releases from the Police in the last two years of the current administration as part of our social responsibility to our fatherland.

25. While we have been threatened by terrorists and their sympathisers in the cause of our services, it is rather unfortunate that the police are now our tormentors.

26. My fear, currently is not about me, my family or my son who will surely confront the Police with his lawyers over the reckless allegation on his return. My fear is: what may be happening to other ordinary Nigerians who do not have people in police or security agencies to put words on their behalf.

27. Only God knows how many lives could have been lost with the kind of recklessness exhibited by the Lagos Police Team that engages in the gestapo-like operation of picking up people without providing the information on their alleged offences.

28. I am writing this letter to request the Office of the Inspector General of Police over the unnecessary harassment and unjust intimidation from Police Team from Lagos.

29. I wish to, therefore, request your office to:
a. Demand the reason and justification for the harassment of myself and especially my wife who has been traumatised since then and undergoing medication and counselling
b. Provide clear information of the alleged offences purported committed by my son
c. Direct one Inspector Babatunde (08056506863, 08081700099) to stop threatening me with phone calls insisting I must be in Lagos in the absence of my son
d. Tender unreserved apology for treating my family like a common criminal without adequate proof of the allegations.
e. Note that my ordeal contravenes a clear provision of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 which prohibits the arrest of another person in place of a suspect.
f. Note that with the unprofessional and questionable manner of the Lagos Police Team, I wish you would transfer the case to any of your Special Investigation Units or to the FCT Police Command
g. With my strict monitoring and parental guidance over my children, I should also be held liable if my son is found guilty of the alleged offence. I am not only a guardian but a Father in every sense of the word.

30. I, therefore, submit this for your prompt intervention, as the Gestapo-police team insists on my presence in Lagos this week which I will not honour in the absence of my son who is yet to return from Hajj.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Publisher PRNigeria, Economic Confidential

Copy:
Governor Ambode of Lagos State
Commissioner of Police Lagos State
Commissioner of Police Federal Capital Territory
Force Police Public Relations Officer
Divisional Police Officer, Wuye District
Executive Secretary Centre for Crisis Communication
Chief Press Secretary to Governor of Lagos State

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