The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IGP Arase

  • Open letter to IGP Arase

    SIR: I deem it necessary, as a Nigerian, to write this open letter to the Inspector-General of Police Solomon Arase, over his recent order for arrest and prosecution of  ’persons selling fuel in containers’, as reported by several newspapers.

    I join millions of other Nigerians who are adversely affected by this order, to beseech the IGP to rescind this very unpopular order, in the interest of the generality of Nigerians, to whom he owes it a duty to, not only protect their lives and property, but also to be concerned about their welfare.

    Firstly, the order is very ill-timed, coming at a time when Nigerians have to contend with untold and excruciating hardship imposed by the lingering fuel scarcity, the longest of its kind, in the recent times, and one, in respect of which the Federal Government is apparently confused about the solution.  It is common knowledge that the activities of the ‘black-marketers’ of petroleum products is fuelled by the woeful failure on the part of government, to ensure adequate supply of the products.

    Secondly, and as if the foregoing was not enough, the situation has been aggravated by the epileptic power supply, or better put, the seizure thereof, which ravages the length and breadth of the nation. The power situation which poses as about the worst of its kind in recent times, sunk to a historic zero-MW throughout the nation, for more than three hours, a couple of weeks ago. This is further exacerbated by the scorching weather condition imposed by the prolongation of the dry season and seizure of rainfall. These, put together, have dealt heavy blows on Nigerians who now have to scramble for the very little supply of fuel in circulation, to transport and generate power for personal consumption. Will it not be very untoward as well as be an insult upon injury, if we further place this arbitrary restriction on access to fuel?

    Thirdly, the order of the IGP is impracticable without having to compound the suffering of unsuspecting Nigerians.  This is because, the aforesaid fuel scarcity is characterised by long queues on which people spend the better part of their days, if not whole days. After having painfully scaled through such queues, one would, under the regime of the IGP’s order, only be opportune to fill a generator fuel tank, which commonly ranges between four litres and 20 litres in capacity, quantities only good enough to last for less than 24 hours. One therefore, would be condemned to return to the same queue the next day, at the detriment of his/her work, health, time and leisure.

    As for the submission of the IGP that many lives could be lost as a result of eventualities from storage of fuel in homes, I say, as much as this is true, more catastrophic casualties may result from the suffocating multitudes, accumulating in filling stations, as a result of radiation from mobile devices.

    Let me say, for the avoidance of doubt that I am not in any way supportive of the activities of black marketers. Rather, the gospel I preach is that ‘chopping off a head is never the solution to headache’.

    Rather than arrest and prosecute innocent Nigerians who struggle daily to put-up with the government-imposed hardship and suffering, let the government arrest corruption, activity of the oil cabal causing artificial fuel scarcity, epileptic power supply and economic recession. Let the IGP arrest the armed robbers, the kidnappers (both ritual and commercial), the rampaging Fulani herdsmen, insurgents (Boko Haram and Niger Delta militants), black marketers of petroleum products, to mention but a few.

    If you cannot help in bringing back our fuel and power supplies, #BRINGBACKOURKEGS!

     

    • Lawal (Abdul)Fatai Abiodun,

    Lagos.

  • Police promotes 37,000 officers, dismisses 51

    Police promotes 37,000 officers, dismisses 51

    The Nigeria Police Force has announced the promotion of over 36,000 officers of the Force to various ranks.
    The IGP explained that the promotion became necessary after he identified stagnation on a rank as an indices that engenders corruption in the Police.
    Also, the police boss disclosed that between May and November, 2015, the anti-corruption enforcement architecture emplaced by him has led to the dismissal of 51 personnel for proven corrupt practices while 56 have been awarded various punishments.
    The IGP also stated that the Police should not be blamed for the electoral violence that was witnessed in some areas in Bayelsa during the governorship election.
    The IGP made this known on Wednesday in Abuja at the last strategic meeting in 2015 with senior officers of the Force.
    Speaking on the promotion, the IGP said: “Stagnation on a rank was identified as one of the frustrating indices that engenders corruption in the Nigeria Police and on account of this, since my appointment, I have with the consistent understanding and support of the Police Service Commission, initiated the promotion of over 35,000 rank and files who have been stagnated on their ranks for varying years across all Commands.
    Giving the breakdown, the Police chief said: “456 Police Constable will be promoted to the rank of Corporal, 28,530 Corporal will be promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and 6,443 Sergeants will be promoted to the rank of Inspector.
    “This figure includes personnel who have consistently risked their lives and courageously confronted insurgents in the Northeast. Most of them have been considered for special promotion and in addition, over 5,184 Traffic Wardens that have remained demotivated and agitated for years due to rank stagnation have also been promoted while 995 senior officers have been promoted from the rank of Assistant Superinettendent of Police (ASP) to Deputy Inspector General (DIG).
    He also noted that officers in the northeast were given over 1400 slot in the promotional exercise.
    “We also gave some slot to our colleagues in the Northeast. We could not pull them out from the theatre of war, they were not on ground but we are promoting about 1400, so if you add it up, it’s about 37,000 of them and we want to promote all of them. Once their Commissioners are going back, they will go with it and it is going to be with effect from the 1st of January, 2016.
    On the recruitment of 10,000 officers as instructed by President Muhammadu Buhari earlier this year, Arase said: “For the recruitment of the 10,000 more officers, the template has already been drawn out between our training department, the Police Service Commission, Federal Character Commission. All the necessary bodies that are supposed to sit together to bring out a template have done that already and we are now thinking of putting it into the next fiscal year budget because it has to be budgeted for.
    He further said: “You don’t send people on training without paying their salaries, their lecturers also must be paid and you must sew uniforms for them and as well repair some schools where they will undergo training”.
    Speaking on the electoral violence witnessed during the Bayelsa election, the IGP said: “Is it police officers that engaged in political violence? No, it is not us. We are a panacea to political violence. Why is it that we were able to conduct the same election in Kogi with the same template and were highly applauded.
    “We did it the same thing in Bayelsa, it is just that there should be some sort of morality and integrity in politics. You don’t hold the police officers responsible for political violence  because we are the antidotes to those incidence. The violence does not have anything to do with police, we did what we were supposed to do, we dominated the scene.
    “To me, I have already issued commendation letters to those officers who participated in the election because there was nothing they were suppose to do that they didn’t do. If the politicians and INEC wants to postpone it and make it inconclusive, whenever they are ready, I will still deploy my men.”

  • Good tidings from IGP Arase

    Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has been quietly tinkering with the police and making the right overtures. The recently established Complaint Response Unit (CRU) of the police, for instance, will give Nigerians more say and more leeway in the activities of the Nigeria Police.  Now there are numbers you can call if any police personnel infringes on your right or behaves in a manner that debases the uniform. This is a crucial milestone.

    He has succeeded largely in keeping the police off the roads; a programme started by his predecessor, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar. He must not relent in his quiet reforms: quality training, improved welfare and discipline are the ingredients that make for a modern police. We must reclaim our police; we want a police with ample self-esteem, one we can be proud of.

  • Day Sabongidda-Ora honoured IGP Arase

    Day Sabongidda-Ora honoured IGP Arase

    The sleepy community of Sabongidda-Ora, headquarters of Owan West Local Government Area of Edo state was agog last weekend as members of the community grouped out in their thousands to honor their illustrious son, who is the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase.

    Arase’s mother hails from the Owan community and he grew up among his maternal relatives, after the death of his father, who was a scion of the prominent Arase family of Benin City, in Oredo Local Government Area.

    The event attracted Governor Adams Oshiomhole and other prominent Nigerians from all walks of life and there was heavy presence of security operatives. The massive blanket of security thrown over the community prompted one of the curious locals to ask our reporter whether Arase would now be operating from Sabongidda Ora.

    The event, which was organized by the Ora-Ekpen Development Association (ODA), was also attended by many notable sons and daughters of the community, traditional rulers as well as top politicians from across the country.

    Among other dignitaries present were former deputy governor of the state and Chief of Staff to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe; Senator Oseriemen Osunbor; Senator Roland Owie; Iyase of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe; Senator Ehigie Uzamere; Senator Yisa Braimoh; Sir Arumemi Johnson-Ikhide and Amb. Moses Ihonde.

    Others included National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Chief John Oyegun, who was represented by Prof. Dennis Agbonlahor; Mr. Mike Okogie; APC Governorship candidate in River State, Peterside Dakuku, amongst others.

    Speaking at the occasion, President of ODA, Prof. Sam Ifijeh Ahonkhai, said the event was to celebrate their son who rose to the pinnacle of his chosen career based on merit, hard work and service rendered without blemish.

    Prof. Ahonkhai said the choice of Holy Trinity School as the reception venue was carefully selected because it was the secondary school that moulded the character of Arase and helped shaped his future.

    He described Arase as a man who is forthright, diligent dependable and full of integrity.

    Ahonkhai called for prayers from Nigerians so that Arase’s tenure would witness tremendous milestone in the Nigeria Police Force.

    Chief Sam Ifidon, a maternal uncle of the IGP, recalled how Arase’s late mother helped pay his school fees after their father died. He urged Nigerians to pray for the IG and always tell him the truth because the public would assess his performance as the head of the Nigerian Police Force.

    On his part, the IGP said his late mother was disappointed that her only surviving son opted to join the police instead of seeking employment in the civil service.

    Arase recalled how his late mother taught him that sacrifice, diligence, perseverance and complete reverence to God were indispensable ingredients of future success.

    According to him, “Sabongidda Ora has made my life. I can only promise three things in return. Firstly, in my line of duty, I shall continue to project those values that will edify this community and I will never engage in anything that will bring our communal values and the image of the community into disrepute.”

    “Secondly, to my relations who raised me, I will not let you down. I shall continue to keep the bond and hold onto your hands and hearts as we jointly continue to walk through the journey of life.

    “I promise to give back to Sabongida-Ora and Owan land what the community has given to me. It is in furtherance of this that I incorporated the Madam Mercy Igbe-Arase Foundation which has been awarding scholarships to deserving Owan West and East undergraduates to enable them fulfill their dreams and make their youthful age and future as worthy of celebration as mine.”

    Governor Adams Oshiomhole who graced the occasion with his wife, Lara, said Arase became IG by reasons of his unique qualities and not political connection.

    He said, “The IGP recognize that those called troublemakers are meant to be protected. There is a lot we can learn not from the fact of being an IG but even from delicate political environment, you can do your job without descending on innocent citizens. You represent the finest tradition of an Edo man with courage, determination to do your job without minding whose ox is gored.

    “If you are being oppressed, you can count on him.

    “He needs all the support, all the prayers he can get from Edo people. Let it not be said that the challenge of policing Nigeria become more difficult because of people from Edo State. He is serving under a President who is a no-nonsense man, who will not tolerate anything you call indiscipline. He is an IG at a time of profound changes in the psyche and governance of our great nation.”

    The IGP and his wife, Agharese, were later decorated with the title of Ojeagbase of Ora Land.

     

  • New Police Commissioners for Lagos, Rivers, Ogun

    New Police Commissioners for Lagos, Rivers, Ogun

    The Inspector General of Police, IGP Solomon Arase has ordered the posting of new Commissioners of Police to Lagos, Ogun, Rivers and other formations in the Force headquarters.

    In a statement issued by the Deputy Force PRO, Abayomi Shogunle, the new posting is expected to reduce the crime rate in the affected states.

    The statement read: “It is expected that the new postings will reverse the crime wave in the affected states and also strengthen the administration in the Force headquarters formations”.

    The commissioners affected by the posting and the states they are posted to are; “CP Ajani Fatai Owoseni; Lagos State, CP Chris Ezike; Rivers State, CP Abdulmajid Ali; Ogun State.

    Other CPs posted to formations in the Force headquarters are: “Dan Bature; Intelligence FCIID Abuja, CP Valentine Ntomchukwu, CP Admin department of Logistics and Supply, Abuja, Hyelasinda Kimo Musa; CP Fed. Special Anti Robbery Squad, Abuja, CP Kayode Aderanti; CP Admin, department of Operations Abuja, CP Ibine; CP Port Authority Eastern Command; CP Ogbusua Aja Oleh, CP Provost,

  • Kudos to IGP Arase

    SIR: When I read the Nigerian Tribune of Thursday, May 7, 2015 P.9 captioned “IGP restores sick officer’s salary 2 years after”, I was dumbfounded, as an administrator because the police put in oblivion the public service rules (PSRs) and also acted suo motu, i.e., on their own. Thank God for the police officer with F/No. 09527 W/sergeant Ajuma Ibrahim attached to Lagos State police command.

    The Inspector General of police, Solomon Arase’s attention was drawn to the sad situation by a reality radio and television talk show in Lagos and the IGP acted swiftly. Kudos.

    No doubt, the IGP has regard and respect for the press like the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, who once said “four hostile newspapers are more feared than a thousand bayonets”. He believes also in the words of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd American President (1801 – 1809) who said “He prefers the press to his cabinet because the press will always tell him the truth”.

    With the above, it is gratifying to commend the effort of the IGP. Nigerians and indeed officers and men of the police should be grateful and delighted that we all have such a resourceful and understanding IGP.

    Happily, the IGP also believes in the words of Martin Luther King Jnr. “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake”.

    May I also use this opportunity, to inform IG Arase that deadly armed robbers continue to terrorize the people of Ubulu-Uku Kingdom in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. The robbers start from Uteogbeje junction to Obior and to Enugu-Iyi in Ubulu-Uku. Many people have been robbed and killed in the place. The people of Ubulu-Uku Kingdom no longer go about their agricultural business. We do hope the IGP will direct the Delta State Commissioner of Police and the Area Commander to map out strategies to urgently arrest the situation.

    • Dr. Charles Ikedikwa Soeze,

    Effurun, Delta State.