PPC: I’ll use my office if cells stay full

Enga acting Provincial Police Commander Chief Inspector Daniel Yangen has made a desperate call to local authorities to expand police cells, as severe overcrowding forces officers to detain suspects in corridors and transport vehicles.

Chief Insp Yangen said officers will not stop arresting lawbreakers despite the space crisis at the Wabag police station cell block.

“If I have to lock them in my office, I will,” Yangen said.

He said aggressive policing and increased arrests remained key strategies to curbing lawlessness in Enga, adding that no law prevented police from arresting offenders due to cell congestion.

Speaking to NBC News in Wabag, Yangen revealed that 104 detainees were being held at the station.

Of that number, 93 suspects were packed inside the main cell block, including 22 kept along the open corridor because the holding cells had reached maximum capacity.

A further 11 detainees were being held inside a police prisoner transport vehicle.

To address sanitation needs for those held outside the main cells, police are arranging to construct a temporary outdoor toilet behind the cell block.

Chief Insp Yangen is asking the Senior Provincial Magistrate’s office to prioritize hearing detainee cases this week to help clear the backlog and reduce numbers.

He is also seeking approval to use sections of the uncompleted Mukrumanda Correctional Institution to house overflow prisoners.

The PPC called on district authorities to reactivate and upgrade district police stations across Enga so suspects can be detained in their respective areas rather than transferred to Wabag.

For a long-term resolution, he urged provincial and district administrative leaders to fund the expansion of existing cell blocks and assist in reviving local police infrastructure.