…denies authorising illegal raid
The Police on Tuesday launched a probe into the unauthorised raid on the Abuja residence of elder statesman Edwin Clark.
Police Spokesman Jimoh Moshood denied that Inspector General Ibrahim Idris ordered the raid, saying in a statement that the IG had ordered the detention of the four policemen who carried out the raid.
The police also said they were not aware of the action.
Moshood said: “The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to a report credited to one Henry Umoru claiming that the Police on Tuesday raided the Abuja residence of former Federal Commissioner for Information and South South Leader Chief Edwin Clark.
“The Force wishes to categorically state that the Inspector General of Police is not aware and did not order the raid of the residence of Elder Statesman Chief Edwin Clark as claimed by the writer of the story. “Consequently, the Inspector General of Police has directed the detention and investigation of the four Police personnel and the informant involved.”
The Force promised that the outcome of the investigation will be made public.
The statement added: “Notwithstanding, the fact that on daily basis the Nigeria Police Force across the country receives information from members of the public which were promptly used to prevent and detect crimes and criminalities, the Force will not condone misconduct by any of its personnel that can run contrary to the rule of law.”
It was learnt that the 91-year-old -old former federal commissioner (minister) was at home when the policemen came at about 12.30om in an 18- seater Hiace bus and a car marked EU 979 ABC.
Clark’s 43, Haile Selassie Street, Asokoro residence was turned inside out for about two hours
Speaking after the incident, Chief Clark said: “I was in the house, in my bedroom when my boys came to inform me that there were policemen downstairs and in the parlour, I said what do they want, they said they came from Inspector- General of Police(IGP) Tactical Squad with a warrant and with their office in Guzape, So I said what do you want?
“They said I was selling weapons in my house so that’s why they went to court to obtain a search warrant and they showed me the search warrant, I said, go ahead. So they went down, searched everywhere, my most important part of it, my secretary, Miss Dorothy Koko, was in the bank, they said they must see her bedroom and the office. So she had to come from the bank to open those rooms for them to search. They came up, searched my wife’s room, my children’s room, my other parlor upstairs and everywhere.
“They didn’t find anything; they made a statement that theycame here with a warrant to search the house for ammunition, but they have searched the house, they found nothing and they themselves took away nothing. Three of my people signed it and three of them signed it.
When asked if the search could be related to last week’s meeting of Elders and Leaders of various socio- cultural groups in the country, Chief Clark said, “I believe because of the various meetings we’ve been holding about the state of the nation. otherwise why would they expect me to keep ammunition in my house. No sensible man will think that a 92-year-old man in Abuja, will be keeping ammunition in his house to fight the government, overthrow the government, this is ridiculous, shameful.
“I am not saying that people don’t keep arms, but I’m not that kind of person, I speak my mind on issues affecting this country, I believe in advocacy, I believe in peace. When our boys, calling themselves Avengers and so on, vandalised pipelines, I formed an organization known as Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF to stop these boys and I led about 100 people including leaders, traditional rulers, everybody.
“Since then, there have been peace in the Niger Delta, oil production has increased, is that why I should be treated like this, perhaps this is the time I should mention it that if has been the policy of the Presidency to congratulate Nigerians who have attained certain age, I attained the age of 91 on the 25th of May this year.
“What I said earlier on was that I’m a man of peace, I believe in peaceful coexistence in this country, I have been doing everything possible to see that Nigeria remains one that’s why we’ve been forming various organisations to keep Nigeria together. I started PANDEF on the 19th of August 2016 to advice the youths who were vandalising pipelines, to stop them from vandalising pipelines.
“Oil production in Nigeria which had gone down low to about 900 barrels per day has increased to over 2 million, everybody knows that. I have led meetings with Mr. President, with our people, I led a 100 traditional rulers, politicians, past governors to meet with the President on the 1st of November 2016, I was looking for peace, but nobody can stop me from speaking my mind or associating with people to see that there is good governance in this country.”
“It is dangerous to say where we are going, we are moving into a police state. What worries me is that those who are surrounding Mr. President, I do not think they wish him well with the way they are going, President Buhari is the President of the whole Nigeria, not one part of this country. I do not think with his greatest respect and having honored my late friend, Alhaji Maitama Sule, I do not think one police man whether IG would have gone to Kano to search his house, Why this type of discrimination, it is very unfair.”
“I will never, I said it is my top slogan that when you are 70 and above, you are at the Lounge, waiting for your boarding Pass, I would say I have gotten my Boarding pass, but God has delayed it, nobody can do me anything, I will speak my mind on anything that is unjust in this country, against injustice, against oppression, discrimination, religious bigotry, ethnicity anything that will affect the unity of this country, peace, peaceful existence of this country I will speak against it.
The elderstatesman has not ruled out taking a legal action against the government and the police as he noted that, “My lawyers will look into that.”
Meanwhile, some groups criticized the raid in separate statements.
Condemning what it described as a humiliation and traumatization of the 91-year old former Federal Commissioner of Information, PANDEF, in a statement by its National Secretary, Dr Alfred Mulade, gave the federal government a 48-hour ultimatum to provide an explanation to the action of the police.
The group added: “PANDEF condemns this very barbaric act which is tantamount to state terrorism and total disregard for his fundamental human rights and complete disregard for established traditional respect for age and national service.”
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call the security agencies to order before they plunged the nation into an irreversible crisis, even as it called on all other relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian project to come to the aid of the country.
