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Priti Patel faces demands for statutory inquiry into murder of Sarah Everard

Priti Patel faces demands for statutory inquiry into murder of Sarah Everard
Priti Patel is facing demands from opposition politicians to announce a statutory inquiry into failings that allowed a serving Metropolitan police officer to kidnap, rape and murder Sarah Everard.
After announcing that an investigation would examine why Wayne Couzens had not been identified by the force as a sexually aggressive predator, the home secretary was told by both Labour and SNP it would fall short because it would not have legal powers to compel witnesses to testify or disclose documents.
Couzens was known among former colleagues as The Rapist and he had exposed himself on two occasions.
Addressing the Conservative party conference, Patel said the killing “exposed unimaginable failures in policing”. She is yet to announce who will lead the non-statutory inquiry.
“It is abhorrent that a serving police officer was able to abuse his position of power, authority and trust to commit such a horrific crime. The public have a right to know what systematic failures enabled his continued employment as a police officer. We need answers as to why this was allowed to happen,” she said.
“I can confirm today that there will be an inquiry to give the independent oversight needed to ensure that something like this can never happen again.”
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, said: “Labour has been calling for a full independent inquiry for days. Now the home secretary has half-heartedly announced one, but not put it on a robust, statutory footing to ensure there are no barriers in the way to getting answers.”
The SNP’s justice and immigration secretary, Anne McLaughlin, said: “Right now it is not set to be a statutory inquiry, and there must be a statutory inquiry.”
A source close to Patel said that a statutory inquiry would give Couzens the opportunity to apply to be a core participant in the inquiry, which would be wholly inappropriate. “We will start the process as a non-statutory inquiry and see where it goes,” the source said.
In June, the chair of the inquiry into the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, Baroness O’Loan, said her inquiry was hampered and witnesses did not give evidence because it was not statutory.
“We could not compel witnesses to testify, nor could we compel the Metropolitan police to disclose documents in a timely manner,” she said.
The Labour peer Baroness Shami Chakrabarti has tabled an amendment to the police bill which would compel the home secretary to set up a statutory inquiry.
“If we needed a judicial inquiry for racism in 1997, we certainly need as much for misogyny in 2021,” she said.
The inquiry represents a change of direction for the government and will increase pressure on Cressida Dick, the Met police commissioner.
Boris Johnson said on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that there was no need for an inquiry.
The culture of the Met has been under scrutiny since it emerged that Couzens was known by colleagues to have a history of sexual aggression towards women. He was known as The Rapist while working at the Civil Nuclear constabulary in Kent by colleagues, who also knew he liked rape pornography.
Questions have been raised about the Met’s vetting processes after it emerged Couzens was allowed to continue serving despite having been investigated by Kent police in 2015 for indecent exposure.
He used his warrant card and police-issued handcuffs to get Everard, 33, into a car before raping and strangling her and burning her body in woodland in Kent.
The first part of the inquiry would examine Couzens’ previous behaviour and establish a definitive account of his conduct leading up to his conviction, as well as any opportunities missed, drawing on the ongoing Independent Office for Police Conduct investigations, a Home Office statement said.
The second part will look at specific issues raised by the first part, which could include vetting practices, professional standards and discipline, and workplace behaviour.
Last week, it was revealed that five serving officers, including three from the Met, were under investigation for sharing racist and misogynistic messages with Couzens on a WhatsApp group.
A freedom of information request showed that more than half of Met officers found guilty of sexual misconduct over a four-year period to 2020 kept their jobs, a total of 43 officers out of 83.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, wrote to Patel on Friday with a request to work together to hold Dick and her force to account and to restore public trust, his office said. They spoke again on Sunday evening after it emerged that another Metropolitan police officer, PC David Carrick, had been charged with rape.
Khan said the inquiry must address cultural issues within the force.
“All police officers must adhere to the highest possible standards; we must stamp out misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia, root out those who abuse their trusted position as officers,” he said.
Patel also plans to write to the independent police inspectorate to commission a thematic inspection, including police forces’ ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour. She has asked for initial findings by the end of 2021.
Dick, who was given a two-year extension to her contract last month, has rejected calls to resign over Everard’s murder. On Monday she ordered a review of the Met’s culture.
In a separate development, Johnson angered lawyers by claiming that the conduct of defence lawyers is responsible for the low level of rape convictions.
“The defence is too often able to produce a spurious or otherwise reason why the defendant might have thought consent was given,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Jonathan Black, a former president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association, wrote on Twitter: “Did I just hear @BorisJohnson on @BBCr4today blaming the delays in justice on defence seizing upon mobile phone evidence ? I flipping did.”
News
Police foil N14m ransom payment, rescue kidnap victim, arrest suspects

A kidnap victim, Semiu Ogunniyi, who was abducted from a hotel in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been rescued by police operatives and local hunters.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Wilfred Afolabi, who disclosed this, revealed that one of the suspected kidnappers involved in the abduction of Ogunniyi, Muhammed Babuga, was arrested in the course of the rescue operation.
According to Afolabi, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N14 million for the release of the victim, after which the movement of the suspects was trailed through actionable intelligence.
The police boss disclosed that during the interception, the suspects engaged the operatives in a fierce gun duel, with several suspects sustaining gunshot injuries during the exchange of gunfire.
While speaking with newsmen at the headquarters of the state police command, Afolabi added that two suspected kidnappers, Ibrahim Umar, 25, and Paul Osanyinduro, 38, were arrested in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Council Area of the state. Abubakar Bamoh, 30, a logistics provider for the kidnappers terrorising various parts of the South-West, was also arrested.
He said, “Command also arrested 3 suspected kidnappers who have confessed to their involvement in various kidnapping cases across the state. This operation marks yet another success in the Command’s ongoing offensive against kidnapping and violent crime in the state.
“Acting on credible intelligence regarding the activities of one Abubakar Bamoh, male, aged 30 years, an indigene of Bunza Local Government Area of Kebbi State, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Command swung into action and successfully apprehended the suspect at one of the Fulani camps in Igbara-Oke, Ondo State.”
(Daily post)
News
SERAP demands explanation over missing N500bn oil revenue from NNPCL

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, to immediately account for and explain the whereabouts of the N500 billion oil revenue the company allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.
In a letter dated May 17, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP cited recent revelations by the World Bank which showed that out of N1.1 trillion earned from crude oil sales and other income in 2024, only N600 billion was remitted by the NNPCL, leaving a staggering N500 billion unaccounted for.
The organisation is demanding full disclosure and recovery of the missing funds, and has threatened legal action should the company fail to act within seven days.
“SERAP is writing to request you to use your good offices and leadership position to promptly account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing N500 billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited failed to remit to the Federation Account,” the letter stated.JAMB’s
SERAP also urged Ojulari to identify and surcharge those responsible for the missing funds and hand them over to anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution.
“SERAP urges you to promptly identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to the ICPC and the EFCC,” the group wrote.
Citing the World Bank report, the group noted that revenue from oil sales and other sources was expected to be fully paid into the Federation Account and shared by all tiers of government, but the NNPCL failed to comply.
“Nigerians have the right to know why the NNPCL is remitting only 50 per cent of the gains generated from the removal of petrol subsidies to the Federation Account,” SERAP said.
“The failure by the NNPCL to remit the money is a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anti-corruption laws, and international obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”
SERAP warned that the alleged disappearance of such a large sum has serious implications for economic development, poverty alleviation, and the provision of basic public services at a time of national hardship.
“Despite the country’s enormous oil wealth, ordinary Nigerians have derived very little benefit from oil money primarily because of widespread grand corruption, and the entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators,” the group added.
It stressed that the failure of the NNPCL to uphold transparency and accountability standards has worsened the country’s fiscal crisis.
“The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency,” SERAP noted.
Citing paragraph 3112(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, the group said any public officer who fails to account for government revenue “shall be surcharged for the full amount involved and handed over to either the EFCC or the ICPC.”
News
Security Operatives Nab ‘Wanted’ Kidnapper In Abuja Hajj Camp

Security operatives have reportedly arrested a wanted kidnapper at the hajj camp in Abuja.
A security source at the camp confirmed the arrest to our correspondent, on Sunday.
He said the suspect was nabbed during screening of pilgrims who were preparing to be airlifted to Saudi Arabia. He disclosed that the suspect identified as Yahaya Zango resided at Paikon -Kore in Gwagwalada area council of the FCT.
The source said security agencies had declared him wanted, following his alleged involvement in some kidnappings.
He said the suspect presented his passport alongside other Muslim contingent from Abuja who were on their way to observe this year’s hajj. “It was this afternoon during the screening at the hajj camp in airport when the DSS operatives apprehended him and whisked him away,” he said
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