Jonathan meets police authorities over clash with civil defence

President Goodluck Jonathan, Thursday, met with top officials of the Nigeria Police Force over the clash between policemen and officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps which reportedly left two officials of the corps dead in Lagos. The police delegation was led to the meeting by a Deputy Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Fakai, as the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, was said to be currently out of the country. The President had on Wednesday evening met with the leadership of the civil defence on the same issue. Other members of the police delegation included the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Anti-Vandalism, Friday Ibadin; and the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba. At the meeting in Abuja, which lasted for less than an hour, the President was said to have stressed the need for cooperation between the two security agencies. Speaking to journalists at the State House, the police spokesman confirmed that the clash formed part of the issues discussed at the meeting with the President. He said at the meeting, the police used the opportunity to give the President what he called “the police perspective of the report” and presented the facts as they are. Mr. Mba said, “The meeting is just one of those routine visits where the police leadership come around to brief the President on co-operational related issues. Basically that is why we are here this morning. “Of course, that (the clash between policemen and officials of the NSCDC) is one of those issues we discussed and we also have to come in here to give the President a police perspective on that report and that is exactly what the leadership of the police has done. Giving the President a comprehensive report of what actually transpired, from police perspective and actually presenting the facts as they were.” When asked whether it is true that policemen killed officials of the NSCDC during the clash, he insisted that the President had been properly briefed and that the facts would become public later. “For now, we have briefed the President and I think it will suffice for me to stop. The President has been properly briefed on this matter and I think with time you will get to see, and you will get to hear the exact fact of the case,” he concluded. Premium Times