Some lawyers on Monday condemned the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, for getting involved in business activities that could harm the reputation of the Nigeria Police Force.
The police force has not responded to the allegations against the CP by some unhappy members of ATIC Enterprise.
PUNCH Metro discovered that the club operates as a cooperative society and is an online investment initiative created by Adeoye, where members invest money to generate wealth.
PUNCH Metro It was reported that some members of the club alleged that they had invested in buying land but had not received allocations after five years of payments.
During separate interviews with PUNCH Metro, they also accused the CP of planned fraud, which Adeoye denied in a phone conversation with our correspondent.
Adeoye explained, PUNCH Metro“We purchased land as a cooperative and have a single document for each purchase in the cooperative's name. Am I supposed to shred the document and distribute it? We are an online investment platform; we displayed all the receipts and payments on our page, visible to every member.”
The members had previously submitted a petition to the Inspector-General of Police on February 1, 2024, outlining their complaints. However, though the petition was acknowledged on February 5, 2024, as seen by our correspondent on Monday, the members claimed they had not received any response from the police force.
When PUNCH Metro When contacted, the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, did not return the call or respond to the message about the petition's status.
Meanwhile, in a phone interview with our correspondent, Monday Ubani, a human rights lawyer and chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law, criticized the CP for breaking the law that established the police force, saying that the allegation could tarnish the force's reputation if not handled properly.
He said, “I am not very familiar with the police rules, but I have never seen a police officer engage in such activities outside their official duties. It's news to me that a senior police officer would be involved in outside business ventures.
“And the fact that he didn't handle it in a manner that reflects well on him, as a police officer, is an issue. A police officer's name should be associated with integrity and honesty. Regardless of guilt, this could discredit the police force.
“It's no longer just about him; it's the Nigerian police force that's being discredited due to the allegation. That's why it would have been better for him to avoid engaging in such activities.”
Another rights lawyer, Collins Aigbogun, stated that the Act establishing the police force does not permit officers to participate in such business endeavors, and if an officer was found guilty, it would violate the Act.
Aigbogun explained that this issue is not about the constitution, but about the rules of administration. There is a law called the Police Act, which was changed during Buhari's time as president. Even according to the public service rule, a police officer should not be involved in such a business, especially while serving as a commissioner of police. If a police officer does this, they have broken the law that established the Nigeria Police Force.
