It’s not anymore news that sustenance
of adequate security in any given country remains a major responsibility the
government owns the governed. This is the reason the various security outfits
in such a society including the police, among others, are invariably charged to
stop at nothing towards doing the needful in their respective jurisdictions.
Penultimate
week, precisely on Monday, 18th March 2018, during his meeting with
Police Commissioners and Assistant Inspectors-General (AIGs) at the Force
Headquarters in Abuja, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Ibrahim Idris
ordered immediate withdrawal of all police orderlies attached to “Very
Important Persons” (VIPs) and firms – particularly private individuals and
companies – with exception of financial institutions like banks.
The order was following what the boss
described as the “effects of the current security challenges in the country”.
He stated that the need for streamlining the deployment of orderlies to VIPs
was aimed at enhancing effective and efficient policing across the length and
breadth of the nation.
Mr. Idris however disclosed that
business entrepreneurs, multi-national organizations, corporate individuals and
entities that require such services and are found to be worthy, will be
considered from the Special Protection Unit (SPU) of the Nigeria Police Force
(NPF) on application for re-validation through states’ commissioners.
In view of this, according to him, a
memorandum would be forwarded to the President for approval, and that would
henceforth “serve as a guideline or template for deployment of police officers
to VIPs, political office holders” and public officers in general.
The IGP, who recently ordered that all
prohibited arms and ammunition should be returned to the police within twenty
one days, equally used the occasion to frown at the ongoing proliferation of
the police Spy Number plates, covering of Plate numbers as well as illicit use
of siren among highly placed Nigerians. Hence, urged his men to take maximum
control of the anomaly.
Though the order seems to be the first
of its kind under the reign of Mr. Idris, it bears essentially the same content
as similar directives issued by his predecessors such as Ogbonna Onovo, Hafiz
Ringim and Solomon Arase but failed to hold water in the long run. It suffices
to assert that it is almost as often as the instruction for officers to desist
from mounting roadblocks on our major roads, yet as days unfold, the ugly
practice takes a different dimension. This is exactly where my utmost worry
lies.
It
is gathered that about 150,000 police personnel out of a total workforce of
about 400,000 across the country are attached to private individuals and
companies, leaving only about 250,000 to take charge of state and community
policing. The given statistics is a clear indication that these police officers
are more used in the quarters they were not primarily meant for, hence the
compelling need to have a review of the Force’s deployment policy.
I
cannot agree less with any Nigeria who opines that the country is at the moment
strongly in need of more hands as regards community policing. This is why Mr.
Idris needs to expedite action towards ensuring that this directive of his does
not fall on deaf ears as we have always witnessed in the past.
It’s even mind-boggling when noted that some
of these police orderlies are safeguarding alleged culpable individuals. The
system has become so bad that any influential person can walk up to the police
quarters and demand for any number of orderlies, and such request can never be
turned down. This is arguably a worrisome situation that deserves a keen and
drastic attention.
It can’t be untrue that after several
weeks of urging prohibited arms and ammunition to be returned to the police, many
civilians are still illicitly in possession of the said devices. Does such behaviour
not signify that most individuals are mightier than the institutions, or more
powerful than the extant laws?
As IGP Idris has also lamented over
the lingering proliferation of the Spy Number Plates, covering of Plate Numbers
and illegal use of siren, he ought to equally take into cognizance of the
ongoing unauthorized use of tilted glasses that has abruptly become the order
of the day in various nooks and crannies of the Nigerian society.
More
so, it’s pertinent to acknowledge that the NPF needs to be boosted with
additional manpower and working incentives to help in cushioning the
excruciating effects of insecurity ravaging virtually every facet of the
country. Each day, we are reminded that unemployment remains one of the greatest
socio-economic bedbugs living in our midst, yet the workforce of most of our
institutions are nothing to write home about.
As the IGP has later instructed that the
implementation of the new order ought to fully take effect from April 20, 2018 rather
than the earlier directive that bore ‘immediate effect’ to enable the various
Commissioners of Police (CPs) aptly carryout the consignment , I enjoin them to
ensure that the past mistakes aren’t repeated in this era. Think about it!
Comrade Fred Nwaozor
Executive Director, Docfred Resource Hub (DRH) - Owerri
__________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
Twitter: @mediambassador 
No comments:
Post a Comment