Sacked Kogi State Police Commissioner Mr. Ali Janga was yesterday restored to his former position after meeting the seven-day ultimatum to re-arrest six suspects who escaped from custody in the Senator Dino Melaye’s case.
Janga, according to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, was able to meet the deadline after he was removed as commissioner and replaced with Mr. Sunday Ogbu.
It was learnt that influential figures in the state were averse to the idea of having a new commissioner and that there was no proper handover to Ogbu.
The suspects — including Kabiru Seidu (Osama) and Nuhu Salisu who reportedly named Senator Melaye as their gun supplier — had escaped from police custody in Lokoja on March 28, 2018.
The state’s Police Command’s spokesman, ASP William Aya, indicated yesterday that Janga returned to office on April 3 on the orders of the IGP.
His return to office barely one week after he was removed, raises questions as to how the commissioner was able to effect the arrest even when he was stripped of executive police powers.
Janga had announced that the six suspects had escaped from custody after declaring that they (the suspects) had confessed that Melaye was their gun supplier. He subsequently declared the senator wanted.
IGP Idris removed Janga as Commissioner of Police and named Ogbu as his replacement after the incident.
The police confirmed that all the six suspects that escaped from police custody on March 28 had been re-arrested alongside 13 others that aided them. They will be subsequently prosecuted.
According to Aya, those arrested are commercial tricycle operators that ferried the suspects to safety after their escape and owners of the houses where they slept after their escape.
He said that all the suspects would be charged to court after an investigation would have been concluded.
The 13 policemen that were on duty the day the suspects escaped have gone to the Force Headquarters for interrogation as directed by the IGP.
