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The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has said police officers protecting the arrested foreign hackers were on an illegal duty.
On November 4, the Nigeria Police Force announced the arrest of 130 suspects linked to high-level cybercrimes, hacking, and activities threatening national security.
The group included 113 foreign nationals — 87 men and 26 women — mainly from China and Malaysia, as well as 17 Nigerian collaborators.
However, in an investigation conducted by The PUNCH, it was discovered that the foreigners enjoyed police protection before their arrest.
Reacting to the report on Monday at a workshop organised for the standardisation of criminal investigations, Egbetokun said the police officers had been arrested and were currently being detained.
He said, “And the fact that some policemen were also seen protecting these foreigners. Yes, it is true. The policemen have been arrested. We found out that the policemen were on illegal duty. Nobody deployed them.
“They were not properly deployed for that assignment.”
He noted that their commander had disowned them, vowing that the police officers protecting the foreigners would be dealt with.
Egbetokun said, “I have explained that those police escorts were not formally deployed by the police authority, but they were found performing illegal duty. And they have already been found escorting the arrested foreigners.
“Already in our custody, their unit commanders have denied that they send them.
“So they were performing illegal duties, and they will be dealt with accordingly.”
He, however, clarified that there were individuals in society, especially employers of labour and big businessmen who deserved police protection.
Egbetokun said, “That, again, does not remove the fact that we have to deploy for the protection of certain individuals in our society. There are VIPs that the police have to protect.
“There are big businessmen, employers of labour. Some individuals have thousands of Nigerians in their organisations. Such individuals deserve protection.
“Because if anything happens to them, you can imagine what will happen to their businesses. You can imagine the effects on the unemployment rates in our country.
“So, such individuals, we look at their position in society. We look at what they contribute to the economy of the country. And we decide whether they need police protection or not.”
The IG also said some policemen attached to people who did not deserve police protection were not deployed formally.
He said, “Some of these policemen you see attached to people who don’t deserve police protection were not actually deployed formally by the police authority. Some of them were picked on the streets.”
And we are already addressing that.
“Recently, I issued out a signal that anywhere such happens, the policeman will be traced to where he comes from, and his commander or his supervisor will be held liable.
“We are going to have a reduction of such incidents, I’m very sure, with the measures that we have taken so far.”
Egbetokun cautioned against the misuse of police escorts.
He said, “But it is also important for us to note that sometimes, we have situations where individuals will apply for escorts. We will investigate and find out that they really deserve the escorts, and they are given the escorts.
“But when those individuals misuse their escorts, we immediately withdraw them. There are cases like that, too, where those who are found entitled to police escorts sometimes misuse the escorts attached to them.”
On the arrested minors, Egbetokun said they were not arrested for participating in the #Endbadgovernance protests but rather for looting and destruction of public infrastructure.
He said the police did not arrest any protesters during the protests.
Egbetokun said, “I don’t want to make any categorical statement on this issue again, after the intervention of Mr President. I just want to thank Mr President for his fatherly intervention to give those children a pardon. But I want to use this opportunity to correct an impression.
“The impression that those minors were arrested for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest. That is a wrong narrative. It is not true.
“The police did not arrest anybody who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest. We arrested criminals who took advantage of the protest to cause destruction to public infrastructure, to destroy private businesses, and to commit arson. Those cannot be regarded as protesters. The police did not arrest any protesters.
“But we arrested the criminals. So it’s a wrong narrative. It is mischievous for anybody to push the narrative that those 76 suspects who were arraigned in court were people who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest.
“We have said that protesting is a right of citizens. They were captured on video looting people’s businesses, destroying private businesses, and destroying public infrastructure.
“And you want the police to look the other way and leave them, allow them to continue the destruction? No society will progress like that.”
