The police have confirmed that a deputy commissioner charged with the 2005 murder of six people and a woman in Abuja has been reinstated.

Why it matters: Ibrahim Danjuma and four other officers were found culpable and tried for the killing of the auto spare parts dealers between the night of June 7 and 8, 2005. They were returning to their home from a club on Gimbiya Street, Area 11 when they encountered some police officers in Apo neighbourhood that fired at them.

The police had initially said that the victims, whose were between ages 21-25 and included a woman, were armed robbers.

But a panel set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo to look into the disputed account by the police and recommended Mr Danjuma and his men for trial.

All the officers were immediately placed on suspension by the police.

Twelve years later, two of the officers were convicted and sentenced to death, but the FCT High Court presiding judge, Ishaq Bello, said there was no evidence to convict Mr Danjuma and two others and, subsequently reinstated him.

• The force said the reinstatement was sanctioned by the Police Service Commission which relied on the judgement of the FCT High Court that freed Mr Danjuma.
• “The police received instruction from the Police Service Commission that the officer should be reinstated because he had been discharged and acquited by a competent court,” said police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood.
• “The police only acted on the instructions of the Police Service Commission that the officers be reinstated.”
• “They were suspended by the PSC and have now been reinstated by the same body.”
• “The Nigeria Police Force as an institution will always obey instructions from the Police Service Commission, which is the regulatory body,” the spokesperson added.

Omoleye Omoruyi

Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram