Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, has apologised for the unprofessional conduct of his officers who invaded the ABN television and radio studio in Umuahia and arrested a guest who was on a live show.
In a statement released by the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Maureen Chinaka, on the Facebook page on Thursday, the CP regretted the incident that occurred on Wednesday.
The statement, titled “Arrest Incident at ABN TV/Radio Station, CP Abia State Visits ABN TV/Radio, Takes Necessary Disciplinary Action,” conveyed the police command’s response to the incident.
The statement read, “The Abia State Police Command wishes to address the recent incident involving the arrest carried out by some police personnel at an online radio studio in Umuahia. Preliminary investigations into the incident indicate that the police officers who made the arrest, conducted themselves unprofessionally.
“This is because, while there is no law prohibiting a police officer from making an arrest in a studio, the facts surrounding the particular case being investigated by the police officers do not warrant such actions. The Commissioner of Police Abia State Command visited ABN TV/Radio on 17/1/24, where he conducted an on-the-spot assessment. He had discussions with the Director of ABN TV/Radio, and apologized for the conduct of the officers. The matter was resolved amicably.
“However, the officers have been defaulted and their orderly room trial commences today 18/1/2023. If found guilty, they will be disciplined accordingly. The Abia State Police Command is committed to maintaining a professionally competent, service-driven, rule-of-law compliant, and people-friendly police force, in line with the vision of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Ebetokun.”
On Wednesday men of the command and forcibly arrested a guest, Mr. Udensi Donald, during a live programme “Youth Rendezvous.” anchored by Grace Onyekachi.
