IG ignores N’Assembly order, warns policemen against strike

There were indications on Thursday that the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, had ignored a resolution by the House of Representatives to reinstate one Inspector Simon Anyanwu, who was said to have been wrongfully dismissed from service.

Anyanwu, who is currently hospitalised for diabetes, had petitioned the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, over the termination of his appointment without recourse to police disciplinary procedures following which the House on October 16, 2014 directed the police to reverse Anyanwu's dismissal and convert same to retirement with all his entitlements, salary arrears, allowances, gratuity and pension paid.

The Clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, had dispatched the Reps' resolution, the votes and proceedings on the issue to the IG, but checks showed that the police boss had yet to restore Anyanwu into service or pay his entitlements as directed.

In his petition, Anyanwu explained that he travelled for medical treatment for which a leave certificate was issued by the police authorities, and that his problems started when he was abducted by ritual killers while travelling back to his base.

The petitioner claimed he was neither queried nor given an orderly room trial, adding that he petitioned the IG, and the Police Service Commission but that none of the steps yielded any result.

When contacted on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, asked Anyanwu to resend his petition, assuring that his matter would be looked into and the right things would be done.

"Let him send his petition afresh, it would be looked into and the right things would be done," he said.

Meanwhile, Abba has threatened to deal with policemen that embark on any strike.

The IG also warned officers of dire consequences of breaching extant rules and regulations as applicable to the Nigeria Police Force.

The PUNCH had on Wednesday published a report that about 15,000 policemen, who were promoted from the rank of sergeant to Inspector and those promoted from the rank of Inspector to Assistant Superintendent of Police, were planning to go on strike in March, 2015 over non-payment of their promotion arrears for over a year.

But the police, in a statement on Thursday by Ojukwu warned the men against the planned strike.

The statement read, "The attention of the Police High Command has been drawn to a media publication captioned, 'Policemen threaten strike over unpaid salaries'.

"At the outset, it is pertinent to state that, the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force is mindful of its responsibility towards the welfare of the workforce; part of which is promotion and recognition of hard work.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the Nigeria Police Force is working assiduously with relevant government departments and agencies to effect the payment of the promotion arrears. Meanwhile, all promoted officers have since January 2015 been enjoying the salaries attendant on their new ranks."

Abba expressed anger over the "recourse to unapproved channels to air perceived grievances," noting that the police regulation provided enough windows for aggrieved officers to ventilate their grievances.

"The IG is miffed that officers have to recourse to unapproved channels to air their perceived grievances. The IG therefore warns such officers of the dire consequences of breaching extant rules and regulations," the statement added.