Many Nigerians before now hardly believe in the saying that police are our friends until recently when the Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali Baba was deservedly appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the Nigria Police Force.
On assumption of office, he made some pledges which he has kept; one of which is to harness all human and material resources at the disposal of the Nigeria Police towards improving security and safety, law and order across the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He ensures that police officers are provided with kits and office paraphernalia for seamless operations.
But without changing the mindset of officers and men as it relates to iinter-agency and civilian relations the working tools would have no intended effects on the new IGP’s mission to create a force where compatriots would regard as friends.
IGP Alkali leads by example, therefore, his exemplary life is boosting staff morale and rapidly restoring confidence among the officers and men of the Force; the results are improved safety and security of life and property in the country.
Through coordinated collaboration with the armed forces, the Special Arms of the Police are recording remarkable achievements in the battle against the bandits in Zamfara, Katsina and some parts of Kaduna and Niger states.
All this is borne out of IGP’s conviction that inter-agency rivalry among security agencies does more harm than good, especially to a fledgling democracy like Nigeria’s.
Uncomfortable with shortage of personnel, IGP Alkali has sought and got the approval of President Buhari for the recruitment of 10,000 officers annualy, for the next six years in order to boost the manpower in the Force that will contend with the current insurgency and criminalities.
No wonder, the Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) declared thatInspector-General of Police Usman Alkali Baba, deserves commendation for the actions taken so far by the Police in the ongoing investigations into the various allegations against the former Head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Police DCP Abba Kyari, now under suspension.
Without courage and sense of professionalism, the IGP could have swept Kyari’s case under the carpet. But this is a fine officer who is blind to religious or regional loyalty; all parts of Nigeria are his constituencies. Therefore, favouritism and nepotism have no place in his personal and professional dictionary. He does his business without caring whose ox is gored.
The Accountability Centre, in a statement by its Executive Director Olufemi Lawson, spoke highly of the new IGP. The centre, through its spokesman, said since the indictment of DCP Abba Kyari by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in July 2021, the IGP has left no stone unturned iin ensuring that due process prevailed in the entire process.
“It should be noted that IGP Usman Alkali Baba in an unprecedented manner, publicly acknowledged receipt of the allegation and indictment processes from the FBI against DCP Abba Kyari, after which he immediately ordered an internal review of the allegations against Mr. Abba Kyari.
“Not only did the IGP reaffirm his commitment to the pursuit of justice, but he also assured his commitment and that of the Nigeria Police to the strengthening of the Force’s professional relationship with the FBI and other international partners,”’ Lawson stated.
The courageous and the no-nonsense IGP equally relieved DCP Kyari of his duties as Head of the Intelligence Response Team and appointed a new head, after which, he promptly reviewed the recommendations of the Force Disciplinary Committee on him and subsequently wrote to theiPolice Service Commission (PSC), recommending the suspension of DCP Abba Kyari.
In the present situation where many public officers hold loyalty to region, ethnicity and religion, Nigerians should rise to praise Alkali for his courage, fairness and statesmanship.
His performance has indeed re-echoed his position within and outside the Police Force as a leader who is committed to entrenching professional ethics and discipline. IGP further expand its commitment to the repositioning of every tier of the Nigeria Police in its efforts at ensuring the security of Nigerians, while also promoting justice, but not trampling on human rights of citizens.
Furthermore, he reactivated the Marine unit of the Force, digitalized the crime section and procured drones for intelligence gathering, while the Technical Intelligent Unit is fully functional to cope with new trends in crime and criminalities in every nook and cranny of the country, especially the flashpoints in the northeast, northwest and southeast.
Alkali believes that the Nigeria Police must work with time andmodernity to contain the ever dynamic crime waves which have become a global phenomenon. So he adopts training and retraining as his cardinal point of administration.
The astute police officer said, “Crime and criminality is a dynamic thing; it is not something that is static. It moves with time, it moves with modernisation, it moves with technology. Nobody has ever told us that human beings can be stolen; now we see human beings being stolen and taken away and they’re asking you to bring money.
“That is a new crime which is called kidnapping. We know of armed robbery and now we started hearing of armed banditry.
“So we must work with time, modernity and therefore, one of our cardinal principles in the job now is to train and retrain ourselves. So training is the cardinal point of our administration.”
To achieve this lofty objective, the Force started training 10,000recruits and changed the curriculum to reflect modernism.
“Since we came we have gotten a lot, we have just been given 200 brand new pick-up vehicles that are very strong, by the Police Trust Fund.
We have made our Air Wings very effective, we are proud of putting six helicopters in the air at one time. Our Marine segment has been reactivated; our Technical Intelligent Unit is working. We have acquired drones; we have digitalized our crime section. We have involved a lot of technology in our works.” IGP said.
Bearing in mind the dangers of fake news and mere speculation on issues, he encouraged police officers to constantly educate themselves by reading and listening to the news on radios and televisions in order to acquaint themselves with the latest happenings at home and abroad.
Before IGP launched Operation Restore Peace in the Southeast, the secessionists had demoralized the workforce with unprovoked attacks and killings, but now such unpatriotic tendencies have been brought under control; not through brutal force, but intelligence gathering offered by modern technology which has greatly aided operations. With Alkali, the police are truly becoming are friends.
Kaugama, a commentator on national issues, writes from Dutse, Jigawa state
