ABUJA
— There was confusion and drama at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, yesterday,
as the sacked Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, stalled the formal
handover to his successor, Mr Solomon Arase, until he was compelled to do so by
the Presidency.
This came as some former Inspectors-General of Police
expressed reservations over the manner Abba was removed while other leaders
were divided over the sack.
The handover ceremony which was earlier slated for 8 a.m.
with invitations sent to journalists for coverage from the office of the Force
Public Relations Officer, did not take place until almost 4pm following the
absence of the ex-Police boss at the headquarters.
Abba was said to have removed all his personal belongings
before leaving the office around 11.20 p.m. after the announcement, Tuesday.
According to his aides, when they visited his official residence at Maitama
early yesterday, Abba said he was yet to receive any official letter informing
him to hand over as he heard the news of his sack on radio and television like
other Nigerians.
Vanguard
learnt that reporters who converged in their numbers early in the morning for
the handover, were disappointed as they were not allowed access to Force
Headquarters. No reasons, according to sources, were given for the delay in the
handing over ceremony.
3 DIGs protest appointment of Arase
Meanwhile, uncertainty continued to pervade Force
Headquarters after it was reliably gathered that three of the serving Deputy
Inspectors-General of Police were holding an emergency secret meeting in one of
the offices on the 6th floor of the headquarters building.
Feelers from the meeting indicated that they resolved to
strongly protest the appointment of their contemporary, Arase, DIG
Intelligence, as acting Police boss on the grounds that they were all promoted
same day on February 20, 2014.
The three DIGs were also said to have sworn to contest the
appointment of Arase to the highest level because they were not well treated by
his appointment. While palpable tension generated by the ugly development threw
Force Headquarters into confusion, other top officers and the rank and file
were seen in different moods.
Many of them stood in groups discussing the development in
hushed tones. Some officers were also seen in jubilant mood, praising President
Goodluck Jonathan for taking the decisive action.
They alleged that they were not well treated by the former
IGP during the elections as they were not paid their due allowances. Many of
the officers, however, commended the appointment of Arase, noting that he is
well suited for the job.
Handover at last
HAND-OVER: Former Inspector-General of Police,
Mr Suleiman Abba (right), handing over the Force flag to Acting
Inspector-General, Mr Solomon Arase, in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga
Olamikan
While the situation continued to generate tension, relief
came at last after the Presidency reportedly directed that the ceremony must be
completed without fail before end of the working day.
This, according to sources, forced Abba to quickly rush to
Force Headquarters after directing Force Public Relations Officer to issue
fresh releases inviting reporters for the ceremony at 2.30pm. The handover
later took place around 4.30pm.
I’ll provide highest possible level of professional
leadership —Arase
After the dust had settled, the acting Inspector-General of
Police, Mr. Solomon Ehigiator Arase, yesterday took over command of the Nigeria
Police Force from his predecessor, Abba, with a declaration that he will
provide the highest possible level of professional leadership while trusting
that officers and men shall march hand-in-hand with him to advance the fortunes
of the Force.
Arase made the declaration even as he warned unrepentant
felons who may want to put to test the common will of the Force by disrupting
the re-run elections in Imo, Abia and Taraba states to think again as the Force
will not hesitate to deploy its potent assets to deal firmly and decisively
with deviants.
His words: “My dear officers, the task of blending our
acclaimed quality human assets with quality leadership is the main challenge
ahead of us but it is one I am convinced we can surmount.
“In so doing, we must resolve, both individually and
collectively, to hold our duties sacred, perform our functions with pride and
exhibit the highest level of professional excellence in all our engagements.
“Let me use this opportunity to quickly remind you that
aside our routine operations, we have within the short term, two major national
assignments where our professional expertise and commitment will once again be
subjected to national and international scrutiny. First, is the conduct of the
governorship elections in areas where they were declared inconclusive by INEC—
Imo, Abia and Taraba states.
“The second is the delivery of hitch-free presidential,
governorship, National/state Assembly inauguration at federal and state levels.
While with your support, I am confident that we have the operational capacity
to ensure the success of both exercises, I am not unmindful of the possible
security threats that some lawless individuals may attempt to pose during the
make-up elections.
“Consequently, while the unique intelligence assets of the
force will be deployed to proactively support our operational plans, there
shall also be massive deployment of men and materials to the affected areas in
order to assure a secure environment for the qualified electorate to exercise
their franchise.
“I must, however, re-emphasize that as a nation, we have had
enough of electoral violence. Therefore, under my leadership, we shall work
closely with INEC and other strategic stakeholders to ensure that such acts
will not only be defined as intolerable; perpetrators will be identified,
isolated and brought to deserved justice to act as deterrence.
Arase urges politicians to play the game by the rules
“To the unrepentant felons that may want to put our common
will to test, the message is being relayed here loud and clear, that in
securing the law-abiding, we shall also not hesitate to deploy our potent
assets to deal firmly and decisively with deviants. In addition, I will ensure
that the AIGs and CPs that will be deployed for the election duties are
empowered enough to ensure the success of their operations.
“In line with the principle of ‘to whom much is given, much
more is expected’, such senior officers should be prepared to be accountable
for their actions while the exercise lasts.”
While calling on political actors to assist the Police and
other law enforcement agents in sustaining the gains recorded in our democracy
journey, the Acting IG said:
“They should remember that politics is a game guided by
rules and it behoves them to play the game by the rules.”
On Abba, he said: “Aside being a vastly experienced police
administrator, IGP Suleiman Abba is known to be gifted with exceptional
leadership qualities which have manifested in his trade mark comportment,
humility and respect and courtesy with which he treated members of his
management team throughout his tenure. Even more elating is that he is a unique
motivational leader that demonstrated genuine passion for the welfare of
officers and men of the force.”
I want to move on with my life —Abba
On his part, former IGP, Abba said: “Let me first
congratulate the acting IGP for the elevation. With every sense of sincerity of
purpose, let me say it is a well deserved appointment, not only for the
management of the force but for the society of Nigeria. That is to say I wish
him well and know he will do well.
“I want to thank the Almighty God for my appointment and
like He (God) said, He alone gives and He takes; particularly now that I am
leaving in good health. I want to also thank President Jonathan for appointing
me as IGP and seeing me up to this time because I believe God knows the best.
“Now I want to move on with my life and in doing that, I
want to use this opportunity to appeal to those who we might have offended to
know that the nature of policing in a country like Nigeria is fraught with its
challenges. We have different people, different values. Even at that, I want to
appeal to those who feel deeply offended to have a place in their heart to
forgive and lend support to my colleagues.
“My happiness is that we have gone through the elections and
after all the hard work, the elections are almost over. I want to thank those
who helped in making sure that we have peace today. Leading in this line is
President Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigeria Police Force, other security agencies,
the Peace committee, civil society groups. But it is not yet over because
elections are yet to be concluded in three states.”
Ex-IGPs regret sack, say action killing police force
Meanwhile, some former Inspectors-General of Police have
expressed reservations over Abba’s sack, saying the action of the President and
others in the past was killing the Nigerian Police Force.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, former
Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Attah expressed regret that
with the sacking of Abba, the Nigerian Police Force has produced six different
Inspectors-General of Police within a period of six years, noting that by so
doing, the best trained officers of the force were being eased out at such fast
pace without equally well-trained and well-experienced replacements.
Noting that if reasons for Abba’s removal which were
attributed to political issues were true, Attah said:
“Then I think it is not good for somebody who is an IGP not
to be allowed to do his job. He is a professionally trained officer. In fact, I
read it two days before his sack that Abba will go because of certain issues
about politics but before one can say jack, Mr. President removed him. It is
not the best for the police institution.
“The young man that is leaving (Abba), I can’t fault him for
the way he did his job during the elections. He moved officers from point A to
point B because he wanted a good job done. So they cannot say he was partial.
He knows his officers. If Abubakar is good for Sokoto, he posted him there, if
Ikechukwu is good for Ebonyi, he posted him there. It is when you see him
collecting money that you can sanction him and that is not the case.
“I don’t think the Prime Minister of Britain would get
involved in such a thing. The American ambassador was at Force Headquarters to
commend the IGP for a marvellous job during elections, the next thing, the IGP
is being sacked. I hope this will be the last of it.
“Do not get me wrong. Both Abba and Arase are officers who
grew up under us. Arase, Abba and some others are very intelligent officers,
professionals to the core but their breed are few and adequate training has not
been impacted in the force to produce others like them. Aside from this, Arase
according to the law is supposed to retire soon.
“So the Police, as it is now, are gradually being moved to
ground zero. Why I am not happy is that we are doing these things and we are
not thinking about training and improving the capacity for the force.”
On how it can be averted
On how incidents like this can be averted in future, the
former IGP said such bodies like the Council of State for former heads of
state, Council of Chief Justices and other retired senior judges who are
consulted from time to time, should be constituted for the police that will
involve retired IGP’s, who will be consulted when such issues arise.
“The truth is that you have to bring up the police force
that we deserve. If you train them shabbily and there are no good accommodation
and nobody cares, ours is just to see the policeman on duty, the policeman makes
his uniform, buys his beret, then these things will manifest.
“Also, something must be done in the area of training so
that as the hierarchy is going, the ones taking over are seen to be capable to
do the job. Many retired IGPs are not happy about what is going on because it
is killing the force.”
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