By David Eze, Abakaliki
The Assistant Inspector General of Police, in charge of zone 6 Calabar, AIG Tilli Abubakar, has insisted that bail still remains free of charge.
He said Nigeria Police have outlawed payment for bail and warned that any officer caught in the act no matter the rank would be punished.
AIG Abubakar was reacting to complaint of the leader of Hausa community in Ebonyi state, Alhaji Danjuma Gambo, during a meeting with eminent personalities at Ebonyi state police command Abakaliki.
Gambo had told the Abubakar that since police declared that bail is free it was yet to start working in Ebonyi and appealed to him to intervene.
Abubakar said what some disgruntled officers collect from suspects is bribe and not bail as being called by some people and they do so without the knowledge of the CP and their superiors.
But urged citizens to stop giving bribe to officers as it was a punishable crime to both the giver and the taker.
He appealed to officers to desist from collecting bribe, insisting that they had no justification to do so as they are paid salaries.
He warned that any police officer who indulge in collecting of bribe should be prepared to answer query no matter your rank.
In an interview with Journalists, Abubakar said he was in Ebonyi to convey the order of IGP Ibrahim Idris that every illegal arms be surrendered within 21 days.