NAN-H-59
Investigations
By Sylvester Thompson
Abuja, June 1, 2017 (NAN) Some prosecutors in Abuja have called for the overhaul of the police recruitment process to ensure proper investigation and prosecution of cases.
The prosecutors made the call in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
The said the relevant authorities should ensure only qualified persons were employed in the interest of the service.
A state prosecutor, Mr Umoh Inah, said that there were gaps between investigations carried out by the police and other anti-graft agencies.
He said that the police often did not conduct thorough investigations on matters handed over to them from the divisional level to the command level.
“It beats my imagination to discover that most times, investigations at the divisional level are better than those of the command level.
“Once investigations are conducted by the division, command will only adopt what the division did without going further to add anything.
“On a very serious note, it affects prosecution,” Inah said.
While acknowledging that poor funding and the lack of facilities, such as internet facilities, militated police investigations, he said poor recruitment process was a major setback to the system.
“There are still cases where some Investigative Police Officers (IPOs) cannot even write their names or record statements,’’ Inah said.
He said that if the police could recruit only competent and qualified persons, the problem of poor investigations would be controlled.
“If something is done about the recruitment process in order to ensure that only those who are qualified are employed, our work as prosecutors will be greatly enhanced,’’ he said.
Mr John Abah, another prosecutor, said the police system of recruitment needed total overhaul.
“It is laughable when you realise how these IPOs were recruited.
“The police job of investigating requires intelligent people.
“If relevant police authorities recruit competent hands into the police force, proper investigations will be carried out and this will greatly facilitate the job of prosecution,’’ he said
Similarly, a lawyer, Mr Francis Uzoegwu, said investigations into criminal matters carried out by Nigeria Police were not usually detailed.
He also said that sometimes police investigators violated the constitution.
“The police oftentimes conduct shabby or ill-mannered approach to investigations by merging issues.
“At the end of the day, they mix sand with garri which is rather difficult to separate. They do not take their time to conduct proper investigations,’’ Uzoegwu said.
He said that the level of education of the IPO in charge of the investigation was partially responsible for some of the mix ups.
He said that in addressing the problem of poor police investigation which greatly marred effective prosecution, the police should do away with ethnic sentiments.
“In the recruitment process, ethnic and religious bias should be overlooked if competent hands are to be obtained in the police force,’’ Uzoegwu said. (NAN)
SET/JCE
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Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie
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