In another act of impunity by the Nigeria Police Force, a journalist, Kench Okenyi, was arrested by the police for revealing the illegal stay in office and age falsification of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Gobun Mukan.
The journalist was arrested on Friday by a police team led by CSP Chris Amanyi.
He was eventually released “at about midnight yesterday (Saturday)”, a source told SaharaReporters.
While in unjust detention, the journalist was denied access to a lawyer and his relatives.
“I was arrested on Friday on the orders of the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State for publishing a report detailing how the CP was due for retirement five months ago having attained the statutory age for retirement in the police which is 60 years.
“The police team led by CSP Chris Amanyi arrested me and held me for over eight hours without access to a lawyer,” Okenyi said after his release.
The report, which was published on Port City News, exposed how Mukan falsified his service age, reducing it by two years to enable him stay longer in service.
While the international passport of the CP showed that he was born on June 21, 1960 and was supposed to retire five months ago, the CP claimed his year of birth was 1962.
According to the police Act, an officer is due for retirement either after 35 years of service or upon attainment of 60 years of age.
The news platform reported that, “Age falsification is part of the problem in the force. This is part of the problem that led to the #EndSARS protests.”
