There were indications in Abuja, yesterday, that the Federal
Government may have given the go-ahead to the new Acting Inspector General of
Police, Ibrahim Idris, to clean up the top hierarchy of the Police Force.
Sources disclosed that over 20 senior officers may be involved in the
forthcoming gale of retirements in this regard. The looming clear-out of the
officers is coming just as it also emerged that President Muhammadu Buhari has
ordered a massive redeployment of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force
in Niger Delta, following what was described as their inability to checkmate or
contain the destructive and bombing activities of Niger Delta Avengers and
other militant groups on oil and gas platforms critical to the nation’s revenue
base.
The 20 senior officers, mostly Assistant Inspectors General of Police,
AIGs, are those who enlisted in the Force before the Acting IGP. Already, seven
Deputy Inspectors General, DIGs, have been retired, following the retirement of
former IGP, Solomon Arase, after 35 years in service. Vanguard, however,
gathered that the retirement of the 20 senior officers, who form a generation
of officers of the police, would create a massive vacuum of both experienced
and highly sound professional officers, who are specialists in fields that will
affect the force badly.
Redeployment of officers
Regarding the redeployment of police officers from the Niger
Delta, Vanguard learned that the alleged discovery that several billions of
naira were distributed through a serving Major General in the Nigerian Army,
who commanded a Joint Task Force in the area, has shown that security agencies
in the Niger Delta had been compromised, and could hardly do much about the
marauding and destructive activities of Niger Delta Avengers and other militant
groups. Already, new Commissioners of Police have been posted to some of the
states, while others would follow suit. A source disclosed that the
redeployment would cut across all ranks of the force, down to Commanders,
Squadron Commanders and other ranks.
Police to focus on integrity and accountability—Idris
Meanwhile, the Acting Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim
Idris, has said that under his watch, the Nigerian Police Force would,
henceforth, focus on integrity and accountability. He said: “In order to
establish and maintain high standard of behaviour in our official conduct and
to eliminate impunity and ensure transparency in application of the core
values, we will ensure that henceforth, it will be against work ethics for any
police commander at any level to treat complaints with levity. “Complaints
received from members of the public must be treated within the shortest
possible time to the satisfaction of the complainant. “In our efforts to give a
boost to the current administration’s war on corruption, the police management
will strengthen the Police X-Squad units in police commands, with the
deployment of thoroughly vetted, selfless and patriotic officers to tackle
corruption and abuse of office within the police organization at the federal,
state and local government levels. “The personnel deployed to this
anti-corruption unit will be supported with incentives to make them more
effective in the discharge of their duties. “In order to enhance the
investigative capacity of the Nigeria Police, concerted effort will be made to
establish, at least, one Police forensic laboratory in each of the six
geo-political zones of the country. “This will boost the capacity of the police
to effectively and efficiently investigate and prosecute crime within the
organization.
On welfare of policemen
“This administration will leave no stone unturned to look
into the issue of provision of cheap and affordable accommodation for the
police ranks and file. “Making uniforms and accoutrement available for members
of the ranks and file will be a priority of this administration. Henceforth,
appearance of every police officer will be taken seriously. “Prompt and timely
payment of salaries of serving personnel will be a cardinal objective to be
vigorously pursued by this administration. ”
Joint operation centres
On the establishment of joint
operation centres, the Acting IGP said:
“Coordination with other security agencies is very critical at this
period of security challenges in the country. “In every Police Command, a joint
operation centre for effective synergy with other security agencies to respond
to major crises 24/7 will be created. This will bring our daily operations
closer and will build more trust and confidence among us.’’
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