Rivers CP Scrap Eagle Crack Squad Tactical Unit
The newly deployed Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Eboka Friday, has scrapped a unit of the police tactical team known as Eagle Crack Squad.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, said the decision was taken today after the CP’s meeting with the police Management Team at the state level.
“The dissolution is with immediate effect and all Personnel attached to the Unit are to report to the Headquarters for redeployment,” the statement partly read.
Omoni asked residents of the state to rekindle their trust in the police, noting that the Command is committed to giving them improved security of lives and properties.
The dissolution is coming on the heels of complaints of unprofessional conduct exhibited by the personnel of the unit.
The latest complaint against the disbanded unit was lodged by three undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt whom the police officers accused of being internet fraudsters and extorted the sum of ₦150,000 naira from them.
The officers were identified through the cell phone which one of them forgot in the private car which their victim was driving in.
In December 2019, officials of the now-disbanded Eagle Crack Squad arrested five artisans from the popular Ikoku Automobile Spare Part Market in Port Harcourt Harcourt allegation of car theft, and reportedly tortured one of them known as Chima Ikwunado to death and inflicted severe injuries on the other four.
The officers then went ahead to charge the surviving four to court where they were remanded to prison.
The case sparked both national and international condemnation and prompted an aggressive campaign against police brutality.
Some officers of the squad directly linked to the brutality and alleged murder are standing trial over the incident.
