The dreaded Bayelsa State security patrol team known as ‘Famou Tamgbe’ was yesterday disbanded by the state police command following a rising protest against their activities and alleged cases of violation of police procedures, extra-judicial killings and disrespect to other forces in the state, including the joint military task force code named Operation Restore Hope.
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The disbandment order, according to security sources, was issued by the inspector-general of police (IG), Hafiz Ringi. But the state police commissioner, Mr. Musa Aliu, said the security outfit was not disbanded, but the order for a stop to its activity was part of an ongoing restructuring in the state police command.
LEADERSHIP WEEKEND gathered that the security outfit, which was established on Sepotember 3,2010, had faced criticism from politicians, civil rights activists and residents of the Bayelsa State capital, following the initial claim that it was established by the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2011 polls in the state.
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While the security outfit under a new commander, Anniette Eyo, tried to change the perspective of the people towards the outfit through some repositioning and discipline among the personel, the outfit later fell victim to the over zealousness of its personel as cases of extra-judicial killings and illegal arrest and detention filtered into the headquarters of the police command on a daily bases.
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Among the high profile crimes allegedly committed by the outfit includes the killing of a 25-year- old boy, Tochukwu Uzukwu, as they ordered him at gunpoint to jump into a river and he got drowned. Another case of torture and killing was of a hotel staff and indigene of Peremabiri in Southern Ijaw as listed against the command.
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The outfit was also fingered as being the major actor in the face-off between the men of the Joint Military Task Force and the police in the state. A check showed that the provocative attitude of the security outfit has made the soldiers attack and beat them up at any point of contact in the state.
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Reacting to the report of the disbandment of the security outfit, the state chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ),Comrade Tare Akono, on his facebook page commended those “that fought for the end to the reign of terror by the security group, while the state secretary of the Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO),Comrade Alagoa Morris, called for a detailed investigation into the cases of killings and harassment by the security outfit in the state.
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The leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) and the Labour Party (LP) through the national youth leader, Comrade Miriki Ebikibina and state chairman, Comrade Bobo Adou-Atari welcomed the development and asked the state police commissioner to arrest all personel of the outfit to avoid any instigation of crime in the state.
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