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Tag: Mbu

  • Mbu scores Lagos polls high

    Mbu scores Lagos polls high

    The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), in charge of Zone 2, Lagos, Joseph Mbu yesterday described the Governorship and Assembly elections in Lagos as peaceful, free and fair.

    He praised the security agencies for “a job well done”.

    Mbu who was at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) state collation centre at Yaba, to witness the collation of results, stated that anyone who emerged winner in the election merited it.

    While addressing reporters, Mbu described the election as the best ever conducted in Lagos.

    Mbu said: “This is going to be one of the best elections ever conducted in Lagos State. Whoever wins is winning on merit, whoever comes out as governor is doing so on merit and nobody should begin to cast aspersion on the police or INEC.

    “We have done our best and there is no problem. I am not in possession of the results but I know it was a keenly contested election, and this is democracy.”

    Commending his men and other security agencies for exhibiting high professionalism, he said: “You know me and I hope you know my antecedent. The elections in Edo state, I was there, I was Commissioner of Police (Mobile) then.

    “As a junior officer, I was in Yobe, I conducted election in Geshua, one of the most violent and critical flashpoint. When I was in Niger State, I was Assistant Commissioner then, I did the same thing in Suleja, I did the same thing in Kontagora.

    “The policemen here are under my control. You know Lagos has three senatorial zones and each of the zone is being controlled by a Commissioner of Police. So, Commissioners of Police have been reduced to Zonal Senatorial Commanders and I as an AIG have been reduced to Commissioner of Police because I have left my office and operated from the CP’s office.”

    Asked if the police made any arrest with respect to places were violence was recorded,  Mbu said: “We are not in heaven where everything is perfect. We haven’t made any arrest because nothing serious happened. The people conducted themselves very well and the security agencies were readily on hand.”

  • Mbu absent in suit seeking his removal

    Mbu absent in suit seeking his removal

    An Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Mbu Joseph Mbu Monday failed to appear before the Federal High Court in Lagos in a suit seeking his removal.

    He was also not represented by any lawyer despite being served with the suit.

    The plaintiff, Mr Tope Alabi, a lawyer, is praying the court to strip Mbu of his rank and declare his office vacant for allegedly abusing his powers.

    The plaintiff’s lawyer Mr Oladare Falana, who stood in for Mr Femi Falana (SAN) said the defendants had been served.

    He said he was surprise that the defendants were not in court or represented by any lawyer.

    “We have served all parties to the case with the processes.

    “We have a motion on notice supported by a 27-paragraph affidavit and a written address.

    “I seek to adopt the written address along with the motion on notice,” Falana said.

    Justice Ibraahim Buba said that there was no doubt that the defendants had been put on notice as he had the proof of service.

    In the substantive suit, numbered FHC/L/CS/149/15, the plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the first defendant (Mbu) “is unfit to be a police officer in Nigeria”.

    It followed Mbu’s alleged threat to kill 20 innocent civilians for any policeman killed during the general elections.

    The plaintiff is praying the court to direct Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba, the Police Service Commission and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) (who are the second to fourth defendants) to declare Mbu’s office vacant and replace him without further delay.

    Alabi said Mbu, as a senior police officer, swore to uphold to the rule of law and abide by the Constitution, but has allegedly been behaving as if he is above the law.

    The latest of Mbu’s action, the lawyer said, is his directive to policemen under his Zone 2 Command covering Lagos and Ogun State.  “If one of my men is killed, I shall kill 20 of them but don’t shoot first,” Mbu was quoted as saying.

    Alabi is praying the court to determine whether Mbu is fit and proper to remain in office considering his controversial utterances and “his public misconduct,” and whether the lives of Nigerians are not in danger as long as Mbu remains in office.

    The plaintiff wants the court to hold that Mbu’s threat as widely reported in the news media is ultra vires (beyond his powers) and therefore in breach of Section 308 (1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution.

    Alabi also wants a declaration that his life and those of other Nigerians are in danger as long as Mbu remains in office, and that their rights cannot be guaranteed unless Mbu is removed.

    The plaintiff prays for an order of perpetual injunction restraining Mbu from giving any orders during the March 28 and April 11 general elections.

    The plaintiff is asking for an order stopping Mbu from arresting any governor in light of Section 308 (1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution. The AIG had told officers to arrest any governor who goes to polling unit with an entourage.

    Alabi said Mbu has no powers under the law to personally kill or direct officers under his control to kill innocent Nigerians in retaliation should any officer be attacked.

    According to him, by Mbu’s utterance, he has chosen to flout the laws he swore to uphold as his statement is “capable of inciting mass killings, violence and anarchy.”

    Alabi recalled that Mbu served in Rivers State and in the Federal Capital Territory where he continued to violate the Constitution by exhibiting “intolerant and unlawful” behavior, to the extent that the IGP had to distance himself from Mbu in the latest instance by restating that the mandate of the police is to “save and protect lives and not to kill.”

    “It is in the interest of justice to declare the first defendant unfit to be and to remain a police officer in Nigeria, considering his public conduct all the time and to declare his position and seat vacant and a replacement made without delay ,” Alabi said in a supporting affidavit to the originating summons.

    Mbu, the newly posted AIG in charge of Zone 2, rose to infamy for his unguarded utterances as well as his recent clashes with politicians, civil society activists, and journalists.

    Last year, the #BringBackOurGirls protesters in Abuja slammed a N200 million damage suit against the Nigeria Police after Mr. Mbu banned their daily sit-ins to demand the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls. The police hierarchy promptly reversed the ban and the suit was dropped.

    Also last year, Mbu detained and arraigned a journalist before a Magistrate for branding him ‘controversial’ during a TV programme. The magistrate struck out the charges.

    Justice Buba adjourned till March 20 for hearing on the plaintiff’s interlocutory injunction.

  • Is Mbu above the law?

    •Lawlessness begets lawlessness and an officer of the law who brims with impunity is a threat to peace

    What shall we have to do to get members of our uniformed corps thatinclude the police, military, paramilitary and security agencies, to respect the basic rules and laws governing the society? Over the years, we have been faced with the problems of unruliness and disdain for rules of engagement with members of the public in the daily run of business.

    Through the years, men and women in various uniforms have almost had as much run-ins with ordinary, law-abiding citizens as with outlaws. Hardly any week seems to pass without one reported case of infraction, bordering on intimidation, humiliation and unwarranted show of brute force. Often these altercations result in deaths, serious bodily injuries or unlawful detention.

    Recently, a police officer reportedly brutalised a couple with the butt of his gun, almost blinding them, over a minor argument. There was another recent case of plain-clothed security men suspected to be members of the Department of State Security (DSS) brutalising and indeed hauling off to an unknown destination, hapless workers at a tollgate within the precincts of the airport at Ikeja, Lagos.

    However, the incident on January 29, 2015 at Toll Plaza 1 on the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos, must give every discerning Nigerian a cause for worry. It involved the newly deployed Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Zone 2, Mr. Joseph Mbu. As the story went, the new police boss was traversing the toll facility on this day at about 6.00 pm in a convoy of about six police vehicles and an armoured van. As reported, for failing to allow the convoy a speedy, unhindered passage, some men in AIG Mbu’s entourage invaded the ‘offending’ toll booth, manhandled the operator and bundled him and three policemen attached to the plaza into their vehicle. They were later detained for about one week at Makoko Police Station without charge.

    According to a release by the toll operators, the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), published on January 31, what transpired at the toll facility can be described as a blatant show of power and abuse of office. There was no demand whatsoever for the vehicles in the convoy of the AIG to pay toll, they were only required to allow a few seconds for the vehicles to be processed as exempt vehicles as the rules demanded.

    But the AIG and his men apparently felt affronted that the operator did not allow them unhindered passage. They would not suffer a moment’s ‘delay’ and no other explanation made sense than to ‘teach’ everyone in sight a lesson. Even fellow policemen on duty at the plaza had to be humiliated as well.

    AIG Mbu was just a few days in his new posting when this incident happened. What a comeback for an officer of the law who already bears the tag of ‘Mr. Controversial’, arising from his  barbaric role as Commissioner of Police in Rivers State recently! As a senior police officer, Mbu must crave to epitomise the very best of conduct at all times in order to maintain the sanctity of and serve as a shining example for the institution he represents.

    Mr. Mbu is also remembered for sending his boys to practically abduct a journalist of the African Independent Television (AIT) even as he was presenting a programme in the studio. The presenter had merely described him as a controversial police officer. These are very poor conducts not expected from a high level officer.

    Impatience, unruliness, disdain for rules and conventions and the kind of impunity that arises from a messiah complex seem to characterise the conduct of some senior security, military and law enforcement officers. Need we admonish that the law is the law and there are no separate laws for different people.

    We urge our officers of the law to always conduct themselves with utmost decorum and dignity, bearing in mind that their uniforms and even the arms they bear are veritable totems for maintaining the sanctity of the law and never for abusing the citizenry.

  • Mbu cautions officers on use of force

    Mbu cautions officers on use of force

    Police officers in Lagos and Ogun states have been warned to comply with the force’s standard operational guidelines on elections and minimize the use of force on civilians.

    The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone II, Lagos, Mr Joseph Mbu gave the admonition at the commencement of a two-day workshop for Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in the zone aimed at securing the general elections.

    Mbu who said the workshop was the third phase of an elaborate programme of training and sensitization put together, to make police officers aware of their roles and responsibilities in the forthcoming elections, noted that it was also an opportunity to acquaint his personnel with  relevant applicable laws and statutes that empower them to ensure effective and efficient discharge of their duties.

    He reiterated the commitment of the police to ensure safety and security across the nation before, during and after the elections, urging his men to see the use of force as the last resort, bearing in mind the need to respect human rights.

    “In the final stage of the programme, each one of you is to return to your respective Area Commands and Divisions and lecture your subordinates. The intention of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is to ensure that the knowledge you have obtained,flows down to all officers to be deployed on election duties.

    “The NPF is the lead security agency in charge of maintenance of internal security; this must be guarded with all diligence. The implication of this is that all other security agencies that are to be involved in securing the elections are doing so in support of the Force.

    “This onerous responsibility therefore requires that every police officer displays the highest order of professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

    “The workshop will contribute immensely to empowering officers with the knowledge required to perform at their best before, during and after the elections, and should therefore be taken with all seriousness,” he said.

    Mbu further directed that all the participants at the workshop should through their Commissioners of Police (CPs), ensure they submit reports of lectures conducted for their subordinates as fallout of the knowledge they garnered from the exercise.

  • Mbu: no one can influence poll under me

    The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone II, Mbu Joseph Mbu, has said no politician can influence the outcome of the polls under his watch.

    Mbu, who spoke at his maiden visit to the State Police Command, Ikeja, Lagos, warned politicians to desist from taking thugs to polling units, insisting they would be arrested and prosecuted.

    He also warned officers against partisanship during the elections.

    His words: “Don’t be intimidated and don’t fear anyone no matter his or her status. Don’t smile at anyone. Arrest anyone who flouts electoral rules and regulations as I am behind you.

    “If anyone attacks my policemen, we will react violently. That is why I want to advise politicians not to come to polling stations with thugs. They should come as ordinary persons, cast their votes and leave immediately.

    “I want to warn that no person should be seen with weapons. Anyone found with machete, knife or any weapon would be arrested and prosecuted with his sponsor or leader. We mean business this time around.

    “I have come to make sure that this election is conducted without violence and we must make sure that it will be free and fair.

    “I assure Lagosians that the presidential election that will be conducted within Zone 2 would be free, fair and peaceful.

    “We have enough vehicles, manpower from police units ,such as Mobile Police Force, Special Protection Unit, Rapid Response Squad and we can even seek the assistance of the Army.

    “Nobody, no matter the position will be above the law. I will shame critics, as we are not afraid of any person.”

    Mbu also threatened to hold Divisional Police Officers (DPO) and Area Commanders liable for the misconduct of their subordinates.

     “If a DPO is good, his subordinates would emulate his good virtues but if he is bad, his men will equally do same. Any DPO found wanting would face my wrath.”

    Mbu said he had been tagged controversial because he does his job well, adding that there is nothing unusual about his posting.

     “If your master knows that you can do your duties well you will be posted there. There is nothing unusual about it. When I was commissioner of police I posted DPOs based on merit.

    “When I was area commander in Suleja, I was the principal actor in that election. My performance will disappoint my critics. I am a very meek person.”

  • Mbu: obey the law or face my wrath

    Mbu: obey the law or face my wrath

    The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone Two, Mbu Joseph Mbu, yesterday warned officers and the public to desist from lawlessness or face the consequence.

    Mbu gave the warning at the “taking over” of the zone, comprising Lagos and Ogun states from AIG Umar Manko.

    According to the AIG, he is in Lagos to do “pure police job” and nothing more and advised residents to be orderly.

    Mbu said: “I have come to Lagos to do pure police job and nothing more than that but if people are saying that the fear of Mbu is the beginning of wisdom, I like that. That is why people should live an orderly life.

    “I want to let the two commissioners under my command do their jobs very well.

    “My men and officers should make sure that they are disciplined and must not be lawless.

    “We all must be organised. People must obey the laws. If as a civilian you don’t obey the laws, we will prosecute you, irrespective of your status.

    “But if you obey the laws, we will not have problems with you. If you want to misuse my policemen, I will say no.

    “If you are not entitled to the use of policemen and you have, I will withdraw them. If you insult my policeman, I will not take it and I will prosecute you.

    “The policemen on the streets represent us and they are the symbol of Nigeria. They represent me, the inspector general of police and the President.

    “People say I have come to act a script but if you have read Adventure City Poetry, you see that 10 blind men touched an elephant in different spots and they all had different descriptions of the elephant.

    “You have seen me today but don’t forget that it is the same Mbu who was the commissioner in Oyo.This same Mbu, the House of Assembly held a special session in his honour. Lagosians should watch and see.”

    In his handover remark, Manko urged the police officers in the zone as well as the residents to cooperate with Mbu.

  • Mbu promises to reply APC at appropriate time

    Mbu promises to reply APC at appropriate time

    Mr Joseph Mbu, the outgoing Assistant Inspector General of Police for  Zone 7, yesterday promised to respond to allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that he was deployed to Zone 2 for a political hatchet job, at the appropriate time.

    Mbu made the remark in Abuja while reacting to questions during an interaction with newsmen.

    Zone 2 comprises Lagos and Ogun states.

    27 AIGs were redeployed to other zones, departments and formations across the country.

    He said: “I reserve my comment on the spurious allegation by the APC in Lagos State; I will not say the APC in general.

    “At the appropriate time, I will respond to this allegation.

    “I am not going to Lagos to fight, but I will not tolerate lawlessness.”

    Mbu also dismissed insinuation that he is a controversial officer, saying “I am not controversial.”

    “I love my job; I am very proud of my job and I do my job very well. I am not afraid of anybody in the execution of my job.

    “Anywhere I go, I am not a politician.The enemy of  a  governor or minister  is not my enemy. The enemy of anybody is not my enemy.”

  • Lagos APC to Mbu: don’t be partisan

    The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday advised Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) Mbu Joseph Mbu not to be partisan.

    It cautioned the police chief against partisanship in the discharge of his duties as AIG in charge of Zone ‘2’, comprising Lagos and Ogun states.

    The party hoped that his redeployment ahead of the elections was not for political reasons, warning that partisanship by a law enforcer of Mbu’s ranking would backfire.

    In a statement by its spokesman Joe Igbokwe, APC said it hoped Mbu’s redeployment was not for political reasons.

    The party said the partisan role the AIG played when he held the fort as the police commissioner in Rivers State in the face-off between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi was unbecoming of a police officer.

    It said the redeployment less than a month to the elections was lending credence to justifiable speculations that would become clearer with the approach of the polls.

    The statement reads: “There is little room in Lagos for the kind of hatchet role he played for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State. We therefore advise Mbu to purge himself of the bias and partisanship, which have coloured his career in the police force before he comes to Lagos.

     ”We warn Mbu that he is coming to Lagos, the hotbed of progressivism and the state that harbours the preponderance of Nigerian intelligentsia. As such, he is advised to do away with such untoward tendencies that have made him susceptible to manipulation by the hierarchy of the PDP.

    “We want to let him know that naturally Lagos is not tolerant of negative behaviours from cultural savages and people without scruples. So he needs to adjust to the civilised template of Lagos.

    “We want to remind Mbu that Lagos is naturally placed to deal with such untoward tendencies that marked his controversial tenure as Rivers State police commissioner. Lagos is still home for all cadres of Nigerian elite and will help him define his career if he lends himself to do the selfish desires of the PDP.

    “We therefore advise him to be objective and fair in dealing with all political interests en route February 2015.”

  • Mbu comes to Lagos

    •Against the background of the February polls, his appointment is a bad omen

    Just a few weeks before next month’s general elections, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, has ordered the redeployment of 14 Assistant Inspector-Generals of Police (AIGs) to various departments, zonal commands and formations of the force across the country. It is not surprising that one of these postings in particular, that of Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, AIG in charge of zone 7 Abuja, to take charge of zone 2 command comprising Lagos and Ogun states, has raised eyebrows.

    Mr Mbu is one of the most controversial police officers of this dispensation. Given his track record of impunity and hubris, it is inexplicable why Mbu should be entrusted with such a sensitive assignment at a critical period where the police must not only be impartial but must be manifestly seen in that light.

    Under Mr. Mbu’s watch as Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, the state steadily degenerated to a near state of anarchy. It is surprising that the Nigeria Police Force was seemingly oblivious of, and indifferent to, the grave damage done to its credibility and professional integrity by Mbu’s temure as Rivers State Commissioner of Police.

    Mbu’s acts of sheer lawlessness in Rivers State are legion. For instance, on his directive, a caretaker committee lawfully set up for Obi/Akpo Local Government Area was prevented from functioning, as the secretariat was sealed up by the police. Again, when five colleagues of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State paid a solidarity visit to him (governor) last year, they were molested and harassed at the Port Harcourt Airport, with the police looking on.

    Other acts of temerity recorded in Rivers State during Mbu’s tenure as CP included withdrawal without just cause of security details of principal members of government loyal to Governor Amaechi, blockage by the police of a road leading to the Government House, Port Harcourt, forcing the governor’s convoy to take another route to his official residence, and the forcible prevention of a delegation of people, including traditional rulers from Orashi community from paying a courtesy call on the governor. These are apart from various instances of incendiary rhetoric.

    In normal climes, any officer with evidence of such brazen partisanship would have been long shown the way out of the force. But when the criticisms against Mbu reached a crescendo, the police authorities simply redeployed him to Abuja and even elevated him from the rank of CP to AIG. Not surprisingly, therefore, Mr. Mbu saw no need to depart from his chosen path of impunity. He even had the effrontery to boast on his departure from Rivers State, in a veiled reference to Governor Amaechi, that he was the “lion” who had tamed the “leopard”.

    Thus, in Abuja, Mbu ordered the arrest and detention for almost 24 hours of an AIT reporter, Mr Amaechi Anakwe, who described him as ‘controversial’ on a TV programme.  The reporter was taken to court but no charges were pressed. In the same vein, he sought, without success, to ban the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners from protesting against the plight of the abducted Chibok girls in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Against the background of a peace pact between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidates, Mbu’s appointment is not a way to implement it.

    Given his unsavoury and unprofessional track record, no one can be blamed for believing that there are sinister motives for Mbu’s deployment to Lagos at this time. All the same, we welcome Mbu to Lagos. Hopefully, he knows that Lagos is on the radar of the local and international media. Furthermore, Lagos is a very conscious and politically sophisticated state that has always been the waterloo of dictators. If Mbu does not change his ways, the same fate of dismal failure awaits him in Lagos.

  • Mbu, 18 others now AIGs

    Mbu, 18 others now AIGs

    The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the promotion of police commissioner in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, to Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG)

    Eighteen other police commissioners were promoted. They are: Ambrose O. Aisibor, Adebayo Ajileye, Umaru Abubakar Manko, Joel Kayode Theophilus, Wilfred Eje Obute, Felix Osita Uyanna, A. J. Abakasanga and Jubril Olawale Adeniji.

    Others are: Ibrahim M. Maishanu, Godfrey E. Okeke, Chintua Amajor-Onu, Lawal Tanko, Usman Akila Gwarry, Kalafite Helen Adeyemi, Yahaya Garba Ardo, Irimiya F. Yerima, Olufemi A. Adenaike and Patrick Dey Dokumor.

    A statement yesterday by the Assistant Director, Public Relations of the PSC, Mr. Ferdinand Ekpe, said the promotions were meant to fill the vacancies that followed the recent retirements/promotions in the Force.

    The statement said the promotion was also meant to reposition the zonal and other commands to tackle security challenges.

    All the promotions take immediate effect.