The Inspector General of Police has raised an alarm about the massive funds of the Nigerian Police Force currently held back in the TSA which is affecting its security operations.
The Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Solomon Arase, stated on Wednesday that over N1.9 billion of its funds in the Treasury Single Accounts (TSA) is trapped because of garnishee following cases instituted against it in different courts.
The IG said the fund cannot be accessed because civil actions brought against the Police are either not defended or poorly defended, adding that many result in the award of damages and eventual garnisheeing of its accounts.
He said: “If this situation is not urgently addressed, the Police may not be able to perform its functions as the limited budgetary allocations will be needlessly lost through garnishee actions.”
The police boss made the disclosure at the 2016 annual Police Lawyers Conference and the Inauguration of Officers and Council Members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Police Lawyers Forum in Abuja.
He said the inauguration of the forum is also aimed at enhancing the capacity of the 500 Police officers who are lawyers, and who occupy a central role in the administration of criminal justice sector.
Arase said he plans “to reduce conduct and practices that result in suits against the police and inculcate in them the culture of effective and efficient strategies in the defence of civil cases and actions against the Police wherever they occur to reduce financial losses by the garnisheeing of police accounts.
“But my experience has shown that the over five hundred lawyers in the employment of the Nigeria police have not fully assumed this responsibility.”
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