Arase Denies Taking 24 Police Cars, Says Acting IG Never Notified Him

Chiemelie Ezeobi

The immediate past Inspector General (IG) of Police, Solomon Arase, on Monday denied taking away 24 police vehicles from the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, as was alleged by his successor, Ibrahim Idris.

Arase, who said he travelled a week after his disengagement as the 18th IG to London for his son’s graduation, was reacting to allegations that he made away with 24 vehicles including two BMW seven series cars.

While stating that his successor could have simply called him or sent him a text for clarification rather than briefing the media, he said all documentation about police property were contained in his handover notes.

He said, “Every information needed by my successor on vehicles bought by the police are in my hand-over notes. All vehicles bought by the police under me were distributed to the state commands and other appropriate units of the force.”

Meanwhile, Arase also denied getting any letter from Idris, adding that even though he travelled out of the country, he would have been alerted if any letter was sent to his residence in Nigeria.

He said, “I suspect there must be a disconnect somewhere because every information needed by my successor are provided in my hand-over notes.

“I am also not aware that any letter was written to me because if there was any dropped in my house, someone would have alerted me.

“It is unfortunate that this matter is being made a media issue because my successor has my telephone number and could have called me for any clarification or even sent me a text message rather than addressing the media on an issue well documented in my hand-over notes.”

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