At last, Mr. Ibrahim Idris has retired as the Inspector General of Police, IGP. He attained his retirement age as such legally is not entitled to an extension as was previously muted. As his retirement drew near, presidency shortlisted the name of an Assistant Inspector General of Police from Nasarawa State as possible replacement for the retiring Idris. Since nature does not encourage a vacuum, the appointment of a new IGP become imperative as Idris, who clocked 60 years on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019 had served for 35 years too as required by the civil service rule so had to retire.
It was not surprising therefore, when Idris paid his last official visit to President Buhari as an IGP on Monday. Perhaps, if not for the controversies that trailed Idris, his would have been the normal change of baton. His regime was fraught with a lot of untoward occurrences. Many allegations were made against his style of policing and management, sometimes politicising what should not matter. The main opposition party was always on their case. Same with the National Assembly.
Reacting to the transition at the police headquarters, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP through a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, during the week in Abuja celebrated the ouster of Idris. Ologbondiyan urged the new police boss to immediately set up the process of re-orientating and insulating the force from partisan politics.
Speaking further, he advised Mr Adamu to remove all templates of alleged election rigging in the forthcoming election. Besides, he appealed to him to urgently take steps to address “the bastardisation of promotion” in the Police. “This is in addition to immediately setting up a process that guarantees proper welfare of officers and men of the Nigeria police. Luckily, here are a few things to know about the new Police chief which puts him up as a worthy successor at this time. Adamu Mohammed enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force on February 1, 1986 as Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police. He served as Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5 Police Command Headquarters, Benin, Edo State. He had previously served as the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti and Enugu states.
Also, he was a Directing Staff at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Plateau State. He has attended several Senior Officers Courses on Law Enforcement, Crime Prevention, Control and Management within and outside Nigeria. He holds a Masters Degree from Portsmouth University, UK and also a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography. He comes from Lafia, Nasarawa State, North Central the zone that the retired IGP hails from. The new Acting IG steadily rose through the ranks. A very vast officer, he was from 1997 to 2002, working as specialised officer at the headquarters of the international criminal police organisation (INTERPOL) in Lyon, France.
In 2005, he was an assistant director at INTERPOL. In 2007, he became a director. He was elected and served as INTERPOL vice-president responsible for Africa from 2012-2014. He was at Zone 5. Benin as AIG until his appointment, Mohammed has been the AIG responsible for the management and operations of the police in zone 5 comprising Bayelsa, Delta and Edo states. He has held this position since 2016.
He is said to be a thoroughbred and disciplined officer. The Police at this time needs some discipline in the way it carries out its functions. The Police also needs to be professional in a way it conducts itself during this political season and beyond. The era of roping in people for Armed robbery should be a thing of the past. Same way the era of constant reckless targeting of people for humiliation should be banished. Reforms of departments like the intelligence, anti-terrorism and special anti-robbery squads should be hastened. We need a police that must enforce laws, be impartial, modern, intelligently led and fair to its own officers during promotions. Corruption should be fought within the force in a way that raises public confidence.
The country is in need of a people-centric police that they can confide in and be proud of. The much talked about community policing model should take off. The IG’s international experience should be brought to bear. Since salaries have been increased, we need to see its implementation and commensurate work out put. This IG must answer to legislative summons. We are in a democracy. He has his job cut out for him, here is wishing him success.
