The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy
(AFRICMIL) has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, the Police Service
Commission, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over what it called ‘unethical
conduct’ of a police prosecutor, Superintendent of Police Joseph Nwadike,
reports ITRealms.
The petition signed by Chido Onumah, Coordinator of the
Centre, AFRCMIL is seeking the urgent intervention of these institutions to
investigate and call to order, Mr. Nwadike of the Force Legal Department of the
Nigeria Police Force and a prosecuting counsel for the police in a dubious
allegation leveled against Aaron Kaase, a whistleblower in the Police Service
Commission.
Mr. Kaase was suspended in May 2015 for reporting fraud
amounting to N275.5m allegedly perpetrated by Mr. Mike Okiro, the outgone
Chairman of the Police Service Commission.
“For this patriotic act, the whistleblower has been further
visited with a series of reprisals, including threats, intimidation and a false
allegation of visa scam in which Mr. Nwadike, is actively involved as
prosecutor,” he said.
According to the petition, after a magistrate court in the
Federal Capital Territory struck out the fraudulent case against Kaase, his
persecutors took it to the High Court where the defendant was also victorious
as the court discharged and acquitted him for “lack of diligent persecution.”
But his persecutors would not relent.
“In a flagrant abuse of court process and display of
unprofessional practice, Nwadike has been moving from one court to another in
the FCT in a bid to ensure that the whistleblower is found guilty on a charge
that is obviously trumped-up, and for which he had been discharged and
acquitted by a competent court of jurisdiction,” Onumah said.
He noted that lawyers are stakeholders in the fight against
corruption, and as officers in the temple of justice they are duty bound to
help ensure justice at all times, including guaranteeing the safety and
protection of whistleblowers.
The statement therefore urged the police authorities and the
NBA to launch immediate investigation into the scandal with a view to reining
in Mr Nwadike.
“This once again underscores the point we at the AFRICMIL
have been making; you cannot have a policy that encourages public interest
disclosures and at the same time allows those who make such disclosures to be
unnecessarily persecuted” Mr Onumah said.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
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