The Abia State House of Assembly has expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Abia State Police Command during the state’s sanitation exercises, specifically criticizing the actions of officers at the Umuahia Central Police Station and the Area Command.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Kalu Mba Nwoke, raised these concerns during the September sanitation exercise.
He noted an improvement in compliance compared to the previous month but condemned the police officers’ practice of detaining sanitation defaulters in rented private buses and extorting money from them instead of presenting them to the mobile sanitation court established by the state government.
According to Nwoke, the defaulters were taken to police stations, where they were forced to pay amounts ranging from N10,000 to N25,000, depending on their ability to negotiate, before being released.
Reacting to the allegations, the Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Asonye Ogbonna, represented by the Director of Environment, Rev. Joseph Udechukwu Ukachukwu, added that some police officers have been seen escorting passengers during sanitation exercises, thus compromising the integrity of the process.
The Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, Maureen Chilaka, acknowledged the allegations and assured that the command would investigate the matter and provide the necessary recommendations.
This development highlights ongoing concerns about the enforcement of sanitation laws in the state and the role of law enforcement in ensuring compliance without resorting to extortion or abuse of power.
