Police appeal ruling unsealing Peace Corps Headquarters
The Nigeria Police said on Tuesday that it has appealed against the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja and filed a stay of execution of its order compelling the force to vacate headquarters of Peace Corps of Nigeria located at Jabi district in Abuja it occupied since February 28, 2017.
A statement by Force Spokesman CSP Jimoh Moshood said the attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to innuendos and misinformation created by some media reports on the closure of the office of the Peace Corps of Nigeria in Jabi, Abuja.
Besides, it claimed “that the order proscribing the existence and operations of Peace Corps of Nigeria is still in force in the country”.
“However, it is incumbent on the Nigeria Police Force to inform the public that on the 28th February, 2017, the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force in a Joint Operation with the personnel of the Military and the Department of State Service embarked on an operation to halt and rid the country of illegal/unlawful security outfits constituting National Security Threats.
BREAKING: Court orders Police to unseal Peace Corps headquarters, pay group N12.5 million
The considered the Peace Corps as threats to Protection of Lives and Properties of Nigerians across the country like other illegal security outfits found engaging in obtaining money and properties under false pretense, Advance Fee Fraud and wide spread extortion of huge sums of money from thousands of unwary Youths and their parents/Guardians throughout the country under the guise of recruitment.
The statement recalled that in 2013, Federal Republic of Nigeria officially Gazetted the dissolution and proscription of illegal Security outfits including Nigerian Maritime security Agency (NMSA), Nigerian Merchant Navy Corps, the Nigerian Merchant Navy Petroleum Security and Safety, Peace Corps of Nigeria and other quasi illegal security outfits.
Despite the ban some of these proscribed illegal security outfits and the Peace Corps of Nigeria are still operating outside the mandates and purposes for which they were registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission.
It is in furtherance of the above that the Nigeria Police Force, the personnel of the Military, Department of State Service, had in a joint security operation entered the Head office of the Peace Corps of Nigeria on the 28th February, 2017 situated opposite Jabi Lake, Utako District, sealed off the building and effected the arrest of one Mr. Akor Dickson, the Leader of Peace Corps of Nigeria and Forty Nine (49) others for investigation in the interest of public safety and security.
They were promptly arraigned in court for prosecution on criminal offences of obtaining Money and Property under false pretence, Operating illegal Security Outfit, Money laundering, Advance Fee fraud and other related offences which are still pending before the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The Force spokesman also recalled that on the 14th of April, 2011, the Peace Corps of Nigeria under the same Akor Dickson, prior to the Presidential Election in 2011, with brazen impunity and total disregard to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act did deploy some of its personnel for the conduct of the General Election, but were prevented by the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies from functioning as a security outfit or disguising as Election Observer/Monitoring Group covering the Election.
The Police admitted that the Federal High Court, Abuja recently delivered a judgment that the premises of the Peace Corps of Nigeria located in Jabi should be unsealed.
It claimed it has appealed against the decision in the interest of National Security and Public Safety and promptly filed stay of execution at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.
The Force insisted that the Force is a law abiding organization and will exhaust all legal processes and obey the outcome of the appeal on the matter.
Andrew Orolua, Abuja
