Sanitation: Abia Assembly accuses police of extorting defaulters

Abia State House of Assembly says it is disgusted with the attitude of the Abia State Command of the Nigeria Police over sanitation exercises in the state, particularly, the Umuahia Central Police Station, CPS and the Area Command.

The Chairman, Abia State House of Assembly committee on environment, Kalu Mba Nwoke, disclosed this during the September edition of the exercise on Saturday.

He said, “I observed fuller and better compliance than what we witnessed last month. I also observed with dismay the attitude of the Nigeria Police attached to Umuahia Central Police Station, CPS whereby, they rent a private bus and are going about arresting defaulters.

“Unfortunately, instead of bringing them to the mobile sanitation court set up by Abia State Government for the trial of sanitation defaulters, they instead take the defaulters to their stations and collect various amounts of money, ranging from N10, 000 to N25,000 according to each defaulter’s negotiation ability and then let them go.”

However, in his reaction, the Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Asonye Ogbonna, represented by the Director in charge of Environment, Rev. Joseph Udechukwu Ukachukwu, said, “Most of the police officers become escorts to most passengers.

Reacting, the Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, Maureen Chilaka, said the command would issue the necessary advice after it investigates the matter.

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