Power-drunk CP: PUNCH writes IG

PUNCH Nigeria Limited has formally written a letter of protest to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Muhammad Abubakar, over the conduct of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Umar Manko.

Manko, on November 13, 2012, asked his orderly to walk out The PUNCH Correspondent, Mr. Kunle Falayi, out of a press conference to be addressed by him at the command headquarters, Ikeja.

The CP’s grouse was with a story published by The PUNCH entitled, ‘Banker  robbed by bandits, shot by policemen.’

The police had claimed that the banker was shot in error and his guard was killed by armed robbers.

But Falayi spoke to the  banker who confirmed that the police had shot him despite his loud pleas that he was a victim and not an armed robber.

The correspondent also found and interviewed the guard who the police claimed was killed by the robbers.

The guard’s said he was shot by a policeman twice, while he was running  for safety.

In the letter written by Editor, The PUNCH, Mr. Adeyeye Joseph, the company stated that Manko’s conduct was unexpected of a senior police officer.

The company acknowledged that the conduct of Manko was at variance with the policing style exhibited by the IG when Abubakar held sway as the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Lagos, adding that there was need to properly educate the CP on how to respond to media reports.

The PUNCH, therefore, asked the IG to take step to protect its correspondents from further intimidation and possible assault by the CP or his subordinates.

The letter reads in part, “Our complaint stems from an incident that occurred on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at the Lagos Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja.

“On Monday, November 12, 2012, The PUNCH published a story entitled, ‘Banker robbed by bandits, shot by policemen.’ The story was written by one of our correspondents, Mr. Kunle Falayi.

“It centres on the shooting of a banker, Mr. Femi Badejo, and his security guard, Joshua Musa, by policemen who had responded to a distress call at Lekki, Lagos. Our correspondent spoke to the victims, eyewitnesses and tried to contact the Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who wasn’t available.

“The next day, Falayi wrote a follow-up story in which Ms. Braide confirmed the previous day’s incident and stated what appeared to be the police’s side of the story.

“On Wednesday, Falayi was at the Command to cover a police briefing to which he and other correspondents, had been duly invited.

“On seeing him, Manko railed at the reporter, dismissed his follow-up story as “rubbish” and implied that our newspaper’s painstakingly built reputation for professionalism  and  integrity counted for nothing.

“More worryingly, Manko ordered his orderly to march out Falayi and ensure that he left the premises.

“We take strong exception to Manko’s unacceptable conduct, particularly, his attempts to sully our reputation.

“We consider the commissioner’s outburst, nay conduct, reprehensible and utterly unbecoming of a senior police officer of his rank.

“We believe that Manko’s fit of power drunkenness was a ploy to intimidate our reporter, gag our newspaper and frustrate our legitimate efforts to discharge our duty as a public trust.

“We, therefore, implore you to use your good offices to educate Manko that a rejoinder stating the police’s side of the story would serve him, and the Force, better in situations of this nature.

“It is our hope that Manko’s future remarks and conduct will not rupture our cordial relations and make recourse to the courts, for the protection of our correspondents, an absolute necessity.”