The Police Service Commission (PSC) has explained that it promoted the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Nasarawa Station, Bompai Division in Kano, Daniel Amah, from Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), and gave him one million naira after he rejected a bribe of $200,000 (about N150m) because he represents the integrity and good character of a deserving Police officer.
The chair of the PSC, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi (rtd), said: “This officer deserves it and we think we should do more. We are giving him special promotion. For his exemplary act, we have promoted him to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police. The law has given us the power to do that. Secondly, we think we should do more.
“He needs something to spend because he has rejected money, so, the commission will give him N1 million. We are also presenting him with a plaque that he would live to remember.
The new ACP was recently honoured with the 2022 Public Service Integrity Award by President Muhammadu Buhari during the fourth National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector convoked by the Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Justice Ogunbiyi, said the reward and special promotion would serve as a morale booster for all police officers to keep doing the right thing always.
The PSC chairman said, “On 24th April 2022, a matter was reported to him that a suspect, one Mr. Ali Zaki convinced Bureau De Change Operators that he has $750,000 which he could sell to them at the rate of N430 to give him the equivalent N322,500,000.
“After a bank staff confirmed the availability of the money at the bank to the victim, the transaction took place. However, the suspect arranged with armed robbers to track and rob the victims while they were transporting the money.
“When the matter was reported to the Police Division in Kano State where SP Daniel Amah was the DPO, they commenced investigations. In the course of the investigation, they traced the principal suspect, Mr Zaki who offered $200,000 to the SP to kill the case, through a bank staff.
“The offer was rejected, the bank staff was promptly arrested which led to the arrest of the suspect. The $200,000 was recovered and registered as an exhibit.”
On his part, Amah said: “I must acknowledge this effort was not borne out of a lone effort. The leadership provided by the IGP made it easy for me to do this. I appreciate the PSC for the promotion and cash reward. To live a life worthy of emulation, there is nothing that can be compared to a life lived with integrity.”
Amah became an instant hero to many Nigerians, who have a poor image of its policemen.
The Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had also in October this year honoured CSP Amah with the 2022 Public Service Integrity Award.
ICPC spokesperson, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, recalled on Friday that commission’s Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, described CSP Amah as a distinguished public servant who against all odds refused to be corrupted and compromised.
“We are particularly delighted that the Awardee is from the Nigeria Police, an institution often much derided, maligned and under-appreciated.
“In 2021, one of the Public Service Integrity Awardees was a police officer. We commend the Inspector General of Police for producing these beacons of light in a desert of despair,” Prof. Owasanoye had stated during the fourth National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
The newly promoted ACP, Daniel Itse Amah is an indigene of Jos East, Plateau State, who joined the Nigerian Police Force as a Cadet Inspector in 2002.
He is currently serving as a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Bompai Police Station in Nasarawa LGA, Kano State
