The Police at Force headquarters has disclosed that to the best of its knowledge, no suspect or suspects have been arrested in connection with the gory and deadly attack at St. Francis Catholic Church that killed 40 worshippers and injured many others.
According to the Police, news of the arrest of some persons by Amotekun are news to the Police just like any other Nigerian as nobody was handed over to the Police.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi who made the disclosure at a briefing said the Special Squad dispatched to Owo to investigate the attack has not made any arrest other than the expended AK 47 pellets recoveries of unexploded IEDS.
“When the Nigerian Police Force arrest any suspect, we will let you (the public) know. For now we have not done anything like that (arrested anybody)”, he said.
Recall that the Police Investigators deployed to Owo recovered pellets of expended AK-47 ammunition while the Explosive Ordnance Devices – Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Explosives (EOD-CBRNE) unit confirmed the use of Explosives as fragments of the IEDs used were found.
Responding to questions as to why the recent governorship election in Ekiti state was free and fair and issues of thuggery or ballot box snatching was recorded, the Force PRO said, “In Ekiti we had a very good operational order, adequate deployment of assets, personnel and assets.
“The IGP was in Ekiti, had interactions with all the stakeholders and emphasized on the need to have credible elections. All our interractions paid off. More over the IGP warned Police personnel to ensure Police neutrality.
“Election duty allowances were paid for all personnel involved directly to their accounts. So our officers and men were not at the mercy of any politician, governor or political party. This same template is what we will repeat in Osun Elections. The IGP started it with Anambra election and it was peaceful, free and fair.
The Force PRO also commended INEC for the role it played in ensuring that issues of ballot box snatching and rigging did not arise noting, “INEC ensured that bollot box papers for each community or zone had specific colours to that zone. So even if you snatch ballot box it will be useless in the final analysis
On preparations ahead of the 2023 general elections, the spokesman said that Force headquarters in conjunction with Matchmakers Consult will commence training on INEC guidelines and the electoral act and role the Police is expected to place begining with the flag off in Owerri, Imo state.
Mr. Shina Philips who is partnering with the Police said the training which will be the 3rd edition of the conference and retreat for senior police officers will engage officers and stakeholders in peer review and cross fertilization of ideas in order to bring senior officers up to speed with modern crime fighting techniques.
The training will involve the Deputy Inspectors General of Police, Assistant Inspectors General of Police, Commissioners of Police and Deputy Commissioners of Police and other heads of Police Formations.