The Nigerian Police Service Commission (PSC) has reportedly suspended the promotion of Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) due to multiple corruption allegations against him, Bellnews has learnt.
According to a source, the final straw was the recent case of a businessman from Abia State who was abducted, detained for three days, and extorted of N62 million to regain freedom.
A source revealed that “following the Bellnews’ investigation report indicting CP Kanayo Uzuegbu in the N62million extortion at the Enugu State Command Anti-kidnapping squad unit, the PSC has finally dropped his name in the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) promotion.”
The source further stated that “there are several petitions against him regarding corruption and extortion of people in Enugu State. So many of them involved charging people in court with a trump-up charge that has no substances.”
It appears that the commission initially overlooked these allegations, believing them to be personal attacks.
However, the N62 million extortion case proved to be the tipping point, leading to Uzuegbu’s promotion being suspended, a source told Bellnews.
Bellnews had reported on Thursday, how one Olu Agwu was forced to pay N62 million to different accounts fronted by some senior police officers to avoid traces, in a disturbing trend of labelling high-profile victims as members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or Eastern Security Network (ESN) with a view to extort money from their victims.
Although, the Command denied the allegations in a rebuttal signed by the Command’s spokesperson SP Daniel Ndukwe, SaharaReporters equally reported additional facts on how the commissioner, Mr Kanayo Uzuegbu was directly involved in the criminal scheme.
Meanwhile, Prof Mike Ozekhome, counsel to Olu Agwu, in a detailed petition dated February 14, addressed to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and copied the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, had called for urgent intervention of the IGP, while demanding a refund of N62million extorted.
He had warned that failure to address the issue would lead to further legal action to protect Agwu’s rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
Ozekhome’s petition alleged that Agwu was forced to pay N62 million into various accounts controlled by senior police officers to avoid being labelled a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The petition described Agwu’s ordeal as “reprehensible, unlawful, illegal, wrongful, unconstitutional, and an affront to decency, morality, and professionalism.”
The spokesman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Mr Ikechukwu Ani, confirmed to SaharaReporters on Saturday that Uzuegbu’s name was dropped from AIG’s promotion, however, he did not provide any reason for CP’s name drop.
Ani said, “I am aware that the name of CP Kanayo Uzuegbu was dropped from AIG’s promotion list. However, the reason for that I don’t know. I cannot tell it was because of any corruption allegations against him or not.”