The Nigerian Police have debunked allegations levelled against the Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris.
There were reports that the IG had auctioned vehicles belonging to the police force to members of the public and also diverted funds.
According to The Guardian, a police source said “It is public knowledge that most auctioned cars are those recovered by the police from armed robbery suspects, purchased with stolen fund or from accident scenes.
“After some time the authority would secure a court order to auction unclaimed vehicles in order to decongest its environment after which it would place a public notice in national dailies asking owners to come with proof of ownership to claim their vehicle within 10 days or risk it being auctioned.
“ In all this, neither the Commissioner of Police of a state nor the IGP is directly involved in the auction. It is the police high command that is saddled with this responsibility. However, auctioneers are expected to auction this seized vehicles on behalf of the police. In doing this auctioneers are not bound by law to verify addresses or identities of buyers.”
Another senior officer also said the auctioning of vehicles is not under the control of the IG.
In a bid to curb corruption in the Nigerian Police, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris instructed all police officers to declare their assets or face stiff penalties.
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