From Molly Kilete, Abuja
Worried by activities of personnel of the Nigerian Police Force deployed on the South East roads, the Ohaneze Ndigbo in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has appealed to chairman of the Police Service Commission(PSC), Mr. Solomon Arase to intervene into the matter.
The members specifically called on the PSC chairman to as a matter of urgency dismantle the various road blocks mounted by the police officers which they allegedly used to extort money from innocent travelers and people of the area.
President of Ohaneze Ndigbo FCT Chapter, Elder Onwu Arua, made the appeal when he led a delegation of members of the association on a visit to the PSC chairman in his office, in Abuja.
PSC Head, Press and Public Relations Ikechukwu Ani, in a statement, said the group complained of the high level of extortion by Policemen and the indiscriminate road blocks that has become unpleasant between the citizens and the Police.
He said they called for dismantling of the fee paying road blocks in the zone especially with the coming heavy traffic expected during the Christmas and New year period in the Southeast Zone.
The group while lamenting over the lack of interest of the Igbos in the ongoing recruitment exercise for Constables into Police Force, called for a more elaborate plan in Police recruitment apparatus to redress the disadvantages of South East in the Nigeria Police structure.
Welcoming the Delegates to his office, Arase, who promised to take up the matter with the Inspector General of Police, also used the occasion to plead with the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigboto stop the incessant killings of Policemen in the zone.
He said, “the killings of Police Officers in the South East is becoming worrisome. They are killing them everyday and they should let the killers know that the Police is not there enemy. “They have not done anything wrong. The Force has lost quite a number of serving Officers in the South East.
“We are your friends, stop making Police wives widows, they are your sisters” he noted.
Arase, while noting that the problem of the South East, remains that of identity crisis, said, “we have resolved the perceived marginalisation of the zone in the Police representation in the country.