By Chuks Ehirim
The Divisional Police Officer[DPO],Asokoro Police Station, Mr Nnanna Amah, is in the news again. This time, he is being alleged to be involved in the harassment of the leader of the Nigerian Merchant Navy, Comrade Allen B. Edema, who has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, alleging attempts on his life, by the DPO.
In the petition dated December 9, 2013, a copy of which was sent to this reporter, Edema also accused a Deputy Director in the officer of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,[Lagos Laison Office], Mrs Yemisi kefas,of working in league with Mr Aman to do him in.
Edema raised the issue of abuse of power by both persons, in his petition.
“I am compelled to write this petition to respectfully bring to your attention the repeated abuse of police powers by the DPO Asokoro Police Station, CSP Nnanna Amah, and other officers acting at the instigation of Mrs Yemisi Kefas, a Deputy Director at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Lagos Liaison Office”, he said.
He added that “In the last one month alone, members of my family, my officers and I have been subjected to repeated and increasing harassment and physical attacks by the DPO and some officers under him. Twice in one month, the DPO has used officers in and outside his Division to invade my residence, brutally assault me and members of my family, and in one
occasion inflicted grievous bodily harm and injuries on two of my sons and officers whom they came across in the cause of invading my residence”.
He alleged that the grouse of the duo agaist him, is in their attempts to subdue him and criminalize the organization he heads.
“May I quickly inform you sir, that the activities of the DPO Asokoro Police Division, Mr. Nnanna Amah (CSP) are motivated, instigated and sponsored by Mrs. Yemisi Kefas.
These renewed and unrelenting acts of instigated abuse of police
powers, harassment, arrests and detention are in continuation of a longstanding plot by Mrs Kefas in her sworn determination to, by all means, frustrate and subdue me, criminalize the Nigerian Merchant Navy and undermine its establishment as a maritime safety and security organization”, Edema posited.
He alleged further, that “I have, in my personal capacity and in my official capacity as the Commandant of the Nigerian Merchant Navy, gone to court several times against Mrs. Kefas and she has continued to disobey court orders declaring as illegal and unconstitutional, and ordering her to stop her malicious and vindictive actions against me and the Nigeria Merchant Navy.
“She has also refused to obey court orders to release my personal property and the property of the Nigeria Merchant Navy which she used some police officers and officers of the Nigerian Navy to illegally confiscate during her previous sponsored invasions of my residence and the offices of the Nigeria Merchant Navy since 2008.
“She has made several kidnap and murder attempts on my life. I have lost count of how many times I and other officers of the Nigerian Merchant Navy have been arrested, detained, brutalised and charged to court over frivolous allegations framed by police officers at the instigation of Mrs. Kefas.
“I will itemize and describe just a few of these acts of intimidation and other lawless activities of Mrs Kefas and some police officers who have decided to allow themselves to be used to target innocent and law abiding people pursuing the legitimate objective of seeing through the ongoing Senate consideration of the official establishment of the Nigerian Merchant Navy to contribute to combating crime on our waters ways and guaranteeing maritime safety and security in Nigeria”.
Below is the continuation of the full text of his petition to the Inspector General of Police;
ILLEGAL AND BRUTAL INVASIONS, ARRESTS, DETENTION AND FRAME UP WITH FRIVOLOUS ALLEGATIONS.
On March 13, 2013 some police officers from Asokoro Police Station and SARS led by the DCO 1 invaded my house at Asokoro at about 11:30 pm. They arrested me and four officers of the Nigerian Merchant Navy and took us to Asokoro Police Station. The DPO of Asokoro Police Station Mr. Nnanna Amah (CSP) came and identified me as the person he sent the
officers to arrest and bring to him. He handed us over to SARS officers who took us to their station at Abattoir and tortured us terribly. We were not told of any offence we committed or the reason for our arrest except that I was a wanted person by the DPO. Two days
later I and the four others were charged to Area 3 Magistrate Court on charges of a ‘plot to destabilise FCT’. The Court dismissed the charges and the police took us back to SARS and called the DPO who came and ordered that we should be taken to Karu Upper Area Court on
the same charges. We were granted bail and taken to Kuje Prison until we could fulfil the bail conditions. The police withdrew the case file making it difficult for our bail conditions to be processed. This made us remain in prison for four days and eventually released on the fifth
day. Please, find attached the Discharge Sheet. We were discharged by the court four months after because the police could not diligently prosecute their case against us.
The most recent of several incidents of illegal invasion was the invasion of my residence in Asokoro Abuja on Saturday November 30, 2013 at about 7 pm by the police officers led by the DCO 1, Asokoro Police Station. The officers drove into my compound, accosted my
neighbours within the premises before they left. Then later at night on that same day, at about 11:30 pm a team of policemen numbering about forty stormed into my compound again and were directed by one of my neighbours into my flat. While they surrounded the building, some of them broke into my children’s room and beat up my two children aged 16 and 18 years, before they forcefully gained access to my own room where I was with my wife. I managed to escape. Please, find attached some photographs showing the damage to the doors in my flat.
This last attack followed shortly after the previous one which happened on Thursday August 22, 2013 when the DPO of Asokoro Police Station Mr. Nnanna Amah (CSP) personally assaulted me on my way back home in my car with three of my children of 2, 4 and 6 years
respectively. I also had one of my officers in the car. The DPO, who apparently led a team of police officers to lay siege on me, flagged me down and I stopped. He immediately, and without any explanation, ordered two policemen to drag me out of my car and he slapped me
several times and used his service belt to flog me repeatedly. Four other policemen held my officer named Emeka. The DPO said openly that he ordered SARS to arrest and detain me and asked ‘who released you from detention?’ He ordered his men to drag me and my officer into the police vehicle. As this was going on- amidst a gathering crowd, I saw one of my officers, Lawrence and beckoned on him to come and take my children home. The DPO ordered his men to also arrest Lawrence. One of the policemen ordered my three children out of my car from where they were watching this traumatising drama and abandoned them unattended on the high way. He drove my car behind the police vehicle that drove me
and my two officers to Asokoro Police Station. We were detained and the DPO personally beat me mercilessly and broke my car windscreen. He also snatched and smashed my mobile phone. We were released after two days and were not told of any offence we committed till date.
I later gathered from an insider at Asokoro police station that Mrs. Kefas visited the DPO earlier and paid him some huge amount of money for him to arrest, humiliate and detain me and to charge me to court and ensure that I was remanded and abandoned in prison custody. This was to prevent me from appearing in court that week for the ongoing trial of suspects who attempted to kidnap me at Mrs. Kefas’ instigation.
As I said before sir, the above mentioned instances of police harassment were masterminded by Mrs Kefas and are just the most recent and part of a longstanding plot by Mrs. Kefas to use the police to humiliate and possibly exterminate me. Mrs. Kefas has also refused to obey court orders that she should release my properties and those of the Nigerian Merchant Navy
confiscated by her using the police in Lagos since 2009. Please find court orders attached. She has also made several previous attempts on my life. Find also a letter from Assistant Commissioner of Police, SCID Panti- in compliance with court orders- asking us to come and
collect our confiscated properties. But this was stopped by Mrs. Kefas who prides in her ability to abuse the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
PREVIOUS CASES
On December 7, 2013, I ran into a siege by some men hired by Mrs Kefas to abduct me and some of my officers at the Merchant Navy Office Ship Base in Lagos. One of the men, upon my entering the premises, ran quickly and closed the gate behind me. Then six others emerged from nowhere and held me. Then I sited a black Toyota Corolla car driven and stopped close to the entrance gate. As they attempted to force me out of the building towards the car, some of my officers intervened, prevented them and apprehended four of them, while the rest escaped in the waiting black car. Unknown to me, they had already tied up and
locked inside one of the offices eight of my officers who were on duty at the base.
I later identified two of the invaders as Corporal Sunday Akaniyene and the other a Naval Officer. I quickly dispatched some of my officers to go and lodge a report of this suspected kidnap incident at the nearby Lion Building police station, Lagos. While we were waiting
for police officers to respond from the Lion Building, a police patrol team from the NNS Beecroft Apapa arrived and arrested and took me and my officers to Onikan Police Station which is out of the jurisdiction of the incident. They ignored our information that we had already gone to lodge a complaint at the nearby Lion building Police Station.
At Onikan Police Station, our statements were obtained and then the DPO Mr. Tse John with Tel. No. 08066680003 authorised that we should be granted bail. Suddenly, Mrs. Kefas appeared at the station in a black Toyota Corolla car bearing Registration No. FG-756-A02 – the same car which the invaders came with to abduct me. She went straight into a meeting with the DPO in his office. About one hour later, and to our shock, one Inspector Richard Aliugron with Tel No. 08034025856 came and informed us that the DPO, after his meeting with Mrs. Kefas had revoked our bail and ordered us to be taken back to the cell. Five
other officers who had come to take us on bail were also detained. We
were later framed up with charges of ‘Assault Occasioning harm’ and ‘vandalisation’ arraigned at Igboshere Magistrate Court which remanded us at Ikoyi Prison. Later the case was transferred to Ikoyi Prison Court which granted us bail. Please see the charge sheet attached.
Sir, let me finally and briefly inform you that Mrs. Yemisi has declared a war against me and the Nigerian Merchant Navy. And she is acting at the prodding and on behalf of some highly placed naval officers who regard the Merchant Navy as a rival to the Nigerian Navy and that we are trying to usurp their duties. But anyone who knows the history of the Nigerian Merchant Navy- a body of maritime seafarers- will know that this is far from the truth.
We have been contributing to national security and assisting law enforcement agencies to fight maritime crimes since 2003. We have exposed some criminal activities perpetrated or covered by some highly placed naval officers. Mrs. Kefas is involved in one of the criminal acts of oil theft exposed by the Nigerian Merchant Navy. We believe that this is the root of our problem with Mrs. Kefas and her hirelings within the Nigerian Navy.
On October 7, 2013, Mrs Kefas wrote a petition to the Commissioner of Police Kogi state alleging that the Nigerian Merchant Navy is an unregistered and ‘illegal entity’ and urging him to dislodge us from our base at Idah, Kogi State. This prompted a visit to our base by
Naval Officers led by Sub-Lieutenant Uba who in my absence took away the Commander of the Base, Reuben Maaji. He was taken to Abacha Barracks, Abuja and detained for over one week and released at the intervention of the National Security Adviser
I hereby request you to cause a prompt, fair and comprehensive investigation into this complaint with a view to safeguarding my life and calling the DPO Asokoro and others to order. I also request you to investigate the role of Mrs. Yemisi Kefas in these acts of constant
harassment and threats to my life.
Yours faithfully,
Allen Benson Edema
DG Commandant,
