A frontline non-governmental organisation, the International
Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety, Nigeria), has
petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan over the alleged “Hausanisation and
Islamisation” of Nigeria Police by the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji
Mohammed Dikko Abubakar.
In a petition dated May 6,
2013 and routed through Mr. Peter Obi, Governor of Anambra State and Chairman,
Southeast Governors’ Forum, Intersociety marshaled out points to prove that the
police leadership under IGP M.D. Abubakar is not guided by merit but by
religious and ethnic considerations in running the organisation. The group
specifically accused Abubakar of flagrantly flouting federal character
requirements in making appointments and promotions and of being anti-Igbo.
Signed by Intersociety Board
Chairman Emeka Umeagbalasi, the petition was copied the Chairman, Federal
Character Commission, Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker of the House
of Representatives. Below is the text of the petition entitled “Hausanisation
& Islamisation Policy In The Nigeria Police Force: Our Case Against The
Police Leadership Under IGP M.D. Abubakar”:
The
composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and
conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the
federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also
to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no
predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other
sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies. Your
Excellencies, it is
totally correct to say that the foregoing firm constitutional directive
provided in Section 14(3) of the Constitution of Nigeria,
1999 as amended, is observed in total breach by the present leadership of the
Nigeria Police Force, headed by IGP Mohammed Dikko Abubakar as it relates to recommendation
for promotion, promotion and posting of senior police officers,
especially those from the ranks ofCommissioners
of Police and Assistant
Inspectors General of Police. Though,
the Nigeria Police Service Commission promotes, but it says the
IGP recommends those to be promoted. This is in clear violation
of the PSC Establishment Act of 2001 and Supplementary Section 29 of Part 1 of
Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution as amended.
As Your
Excellencies may
know, unity in diversity is the main and last trademark
of every heterogeneous society such as ours. It was a driving force behind the
introduction of federalism into the country’s political
and legal systems in 1954. The Nigeria’s variant of the Fundamental
Human Rights doctrine, which
was recommended in 1957/8 for enshrinement into the Independence Constitution
of 1960, was solely predicated on unity in diversity. It was the
fears of the Nigerian minorities of Mid-West and Middle-Belt that made its enshrinement into
the country’s constitutions till date possible. Today, every Tom, Dick and Harry
in the country is a beneficiary of this famous doctrine, originally intended to allay
the fears of the minorities. This
is also expressly responsible forYour
Excellency, President Goodluck E. Jonathan’s presidential emergence, having
come Ijaw small ethnic group. The unanimous adoption of six
geopolitical zonal structures for
Nigeria’s geopolitical system at the 1994 constitutional conference is also to
ensure unity in diversity.
Therefore, the social
importance of unity in diversity in every heterogeneous society
like ours cannot be quantitatively and qualitatively measured. The trademark of unity
in diversity is
effective constitutional safeguards to ward off its violators at all times. In
Nigeria, despite the clear and unambiguous provisions of Section
14(3) quoted
above, the Government of the Federation and its agencies and agents have
continued to observe these sacred constitutional provisions in gross breach. In
2012, we alerted Your Excellencies over discriminatory policies in
some Federal Government ministries and agencies especially in the Nigeria
Police Force as they concerned and still concern recommendation for promotion,
promotion and posting of senior police officers. By the combined provisions of Section
14(3) of
the 1999 Constitution and the principle of six geopolitical zonal structures, the appointment of persons into
various agencies of the Federal Government including the Nigeria Police Force
as well as promotion and posting of the latter’s senior officers should
strictly be based on federal character representation and six
geopolitical zonal structures.
This simply means that on no
accounts should the command structure of the Nigeria Police Force be dominated
by one ethnic group or religion. It further means that if there are 24 police
AIGs in the
Force, each geopolitical zone must get at least four; if there are 90 police
CPs, each
zone is automatically entitled to fifteen. This should be replicated in other
senior or command positions and postings in the Force. It should also be applied
in field operations in the Force. For instance, out of the 12 police
zonal commands and
37 State commands in the country, each zone
should respectively get at least two zonal AIGs and six States
CPs. But on the contrary, the reverse is the case. Deliberate Hausanisation and Islamisation
policy has become
a routine in the present day Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of Mr.
Mohammed Dikko Abubakar. As the Plateau State Commissioner of Police years back
in 2001 or there about, Mr. M.D. Abubakar was gravely accused by Christian
community, media, rights groups and government adhoc facts finders as an
ethnic and religious zealot, a stigma that nearly robbed him of
his present IGPship, which is still a big minus on
his personage till date.
Our
Grouse:
Non-promotion
of Igbo-Southeast Police Personnel & Stagnation of their Ranks: Senior police officers of the Southeast
extraction are heavily discriminated against in the areas of statutory
promotions and postings. There is also an age-long ranking
stagnation policy against
them being promoted by the top headship of the Nigeria Police Force. The top
field and administrative formations of the Force in Nigeria, out of its 6,651
field formations in the country are: IGPship manned by the overall head of the
Force, six DIGs of administration, works,
investigation, training, planning & research and information & computer
technology; twelve
zonal commands manned by twelve AIGs, thirty-seven States and FCT Commands
manned by 37 States Commissioners of Police as well as hundreds of State
criminal investigation departments and area commands manned by Assistant
Commissioners of Police. There are also other important field and
administrative formations in the Force manned by AIGs, CPs and DCPs. Some of them
are Police Staff College, Jos, Police Academy, Kano, Police Medical, Police
Veterinary, Air-wing, Border Patrols, Force Secretary, Intelligence and Marines
& Airport Command, all manned by AIGs. Others like Police Detective
Colleges, Police Colleges, Police Admin, Police Legal, Port Authority, MOPOL,
SARS, CTU, Info Tech/Admin, Police Animal, etc, are manned by Commissioners of
Police.
Surprisingly
and shocking too, senior
police officers of the Igbo-Southeast extraction are not equitably represented
in all these key police formations in the country. For instance, in the number
of serving police commissioners in Nigeria, the Southeast zone is the least
represented geopolitically. Other than States Police Commands where about six
of them are serving with their statutory terminal dates nearing, their absence
in other key police formations in the country is acutely noticed. For instance,
among the 12 Police Zonal Commands in the country, manned by AIGs, none of them
is from the Igbo-Southeast extraction. As a matter of fact, there is no
Igbo-Southeast serving AIG, out of between 22 and 24 serving AIGs (assistant
inspectors general of police) in the Nigeria Police Force presently. The only
serving AIG from the zone who was promoted in 2012 on the heels of similar
outcries from the zone over non-promotion and exclusion of Igbo-Southeast
senior police officers, quietly retired in April 2013. His name is Mr. Alex
Emeka Okeke-a celebrated police pharmacist.
The promotion of
Igbo-Southeast senior police officers to the ranks of ACPs, DCPs, CPs and AIGs
is also deliberately stunted and carried out months away from their statutory
retirement dates. There are incontrovertible pieces of evidence showing that
the Igbo-Southeast police officers are among the best in both police colleges
and police staff colleges in Nigeria, yet their promotions and postings are
habitually stunted by the promoting and posting authorities of the NPF. There
are still many Igbo-Southeast police officers who entered the Force in early
80s with higher education qualifications, who also emerged all
round cadets in
police colleges, yet, they are still in the ranks of SPs,
CSPs, ACPs and DCPs, whereas
their counterparts from five other geopolitical zones particularly the
Northwest, Northeast, North-central and Southwest, have risen to the ranks of CPs,
AIGs and DIGs. The
presentIGP, Mohammed
Dikko Abubakar, from
Zamfara State, Northwest Nigeria, joined the NPF as a cadet inspector on 1st day of August, 1979.
The
Last Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back: On 3rd day of May, 2013, Nigerians,
particularly those of the Southeast extraction received with shock and
disbelief the news of decoration by the Inspector General of Police, Mr.
Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, of nine newly promoted Commissioners of Police at Force
Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. Our swift checks revealed that they were part
of the 13 deputy commissioners of police promoted to police commissioners
on 3rd day of April by
the immediate past leadership of the Nigeria Police Service Commission, which
said it acted based on therecommendation of the Inspector General of
Police, Mr. M.D. Abubakar. The former PSC leadership had in the exercise
promoted 13 DCPs to CPs, 22 ACPs to DCPs,
9 CSPs to ACPs,
16 DSPs to SPs,
52 ASPs to DSPs and 7 Inspectors to ASPs. Also, one serving Commissioner
of Police, Ali Ahmadu, was made an AIG with a strange directive
that his promotion would take effect from 31stday of July, 2013, the
same day he will retire from the Nigeria Police Force. The identities and
geopolitical zones of the newly promoted officers were shrouded in secrecy by
the former PSC leadership as well as the top leadership of the Force with the exception
of the nine newly decoratedCPs. The full details of the
promotion were neither put on the PSC and NPF websites nor given to the media.
Our further in-depth checks
showed that out of the nine newly promoted and decorated police commissioners,
whose identities were made public by the IGP, none of them is from the
Igbo-Southeast Nigeria and out of the 13 new CPs promoted, none is from the Southeast,
whereas eight out of the nine newly decorated ones are northern Muslims.
Seven of them are core Hausa-Fulani Muslims; one is a northern Yoruba Muslim,
while one is a Southwest Christian. Their names are: Commissioners of Police Kudu
Abubakar Nima, Umar U. Shehu, Usman Yakubu, Saidu Madawaki, Usman Isah Baba,
Abdulmajid Ali, Abubakar Adamu Mohammed, Abdul Salami and Cornelius Kayode
Aderanti. For
us in the Intersociety, this is an impeachable
violation of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
Further, in the eighteen
names available to us, out of between 22 and 24 serving AIGs in the Nigeria
Police Force, none of them comes from the Southeast geopolitical zone. They
are: Police AIGs Saliu Argungu Hashimu,
Mamman Ibrahim Tsafe, Suleiman A. Abba, Ali Ahmadu, Ibrahim Abdu, Tambari
Mohammed, Mohammed Abubakar, Aliyu Musa and Balla Hassan (they are all Hausa-Fulani
Muslims). Nine
other non-Igbo-Southeast AIGs still serving are: Christopher
Dega, Julius Ishola, Solomon Arase, Dan’azumi Job Doma, Solomon Olusegun,
Michael Zuokumor, Orubebe Gandhi Ebikeme, Jonathan Johnson and Philemon Leha. None of the 4 or 6 remaining
AIGs, whose names are not contained here, is from the Igbo-Southeast Nigeria.
In the list above, all the geopolitical zones of Northwest, Northeast,
North-central, Southwest and South-south are represented in the all-important AIGship except the Southeast zone.
Few serving
Igbo-Southeast States CPs in Nigeria with nearing
statutory terminal dates are CPs Ikechukwu Aduba-Delta State,
Godfrey Okeke-Adamawa State, Kingsley Omire-Bayelsa State, Hilary Opara-Kogi
State, Ikemefula Okoye-Ogun and Patrick Egbuniwe-Yobe State. Four other known non-State Command CPs from the Igbo-Southeast, who
are still serving are CPs Mrs. Chintua Amajor Onu-CP
Intelligence, Force Headquarters, Isaac Eke-CP Admin B, Force Headquarters,
Benjamin Onwuka-Deputy Commandant, Police College, Jos and Felix Uyanna-Commandant, Police College, Oji River, Enugu
State. It is
possible that some of these CPs that bear Igbo names are of the
South-south Igbo origin. The only cadre of the NPF top command that is
equitably represented in the six geopolitical zonal structures is the six NPF’s
top management levels manned byDeputy
Inspectors General of Police. While DIGs
Atiku Y. Kafur and Suleiman
D. Fakai of
Planning & Research and Administration departments, respectively, represent
Northwest and Northeast geopolitical zones; DIGs Marvel Akpoyibo and Abdulrahman
Akano of
Training and Information & Computer Technology departments, respectively,
represent South-south and Southwest zones. DIGs Peter Yisa Gana and Emmanuel
Onyekachi Udoji of
Investigation and Works departments, respectively, represent North-central and
Southeast zones.
Marginalization
of the Igbo-Southeast in Other Federal Ministries & Agencies: The attentions ofYour Excellencies are drawn to efforts by some key
federal ministries and agencies controlled by other geopolitical zones to oust
and destroy the Igbo-Southeast personnel working in such ministries and
agencies. It is clear to every Tom, Dick and Harry that the Northwest,
Northeast, North-central and Southwest zones are not comfortable over the
headship of the Nigerian Army by an Igbo-Southeast person. Phantom moves are
steadily being made to oust the zone from the position. Just months ago, the
Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mrs. Rose Uzoma, who
hailed from the Southeast zone, was unceremoniously ousted by the Federal
Government under Your Excellency, President Goodluck
Jonathan’s administration,
over phantom allegations includingrecruitment
of Igbo persons into the Service outside the Federal Character principle. Recently, the concerned Igbo-Southeast
personnel working in the Service cried foul over the discriminatory practices
being initiated and sustained against them in the Service and the Federal
Ministry of Interior. They complained of non-appointment into key positions,
barefaced discrimination, sideling and allocation
of irrelevant duties to them, unnecessary and deliberate delays in appointing
another Southeast person as the acting or substantive Controller General of the
Immigration Service, among others.
They specifically pointed out that the Igbo-Southeast are not represented in
the Federal Ministry of Interior’s boards of Prisons, Immigration, Security
& Civil Defense Corps, Customs and Police. Whereas other geopolitical zones
are represented in the Ministry’s Joint Intelligence Board, it is only the Southeast zone
that is not represented. They cited a stark example of the lopsided composition
of the Ministry of Interior, where the Minister and Permanent Secretary are
from the north and chairman and secretary of the Immigration Board are from the
same north. Same thing applies to Prisons and Civil Defense Corps, etc.
Conclusion: Our writing Your
Excellencies is
to draw Your Excellencies’ attentions to issues
under reference and demand for permanent end to same as well as strict
adherence to Section 14(3) andsix geopolitical zonal principle in matters of distribution of federal
appointments, recruitments, promotions and postings of members of the armed
forces including the Nigeria Police Force. The recent promotions in the NPF
being complained of should be thoroughly and expeditiously investigated with a
view to addressing the gross lopsidedness and sanctioning those found flouting
the said Section 14(3). Your Excellency,
President Goodluck Jonathan, should
expeditiously issue a presidential proclamation directing all heads of the
armed forces including the NPF and the PSC to henceforth base their
recruitments, promotions and postings on Section 14(3) and six geopolitical
zonal structures. Your Excellency, as the chairman of the
Nigeria Police Council and sole appointing authority of members of the PSC
board should ensure that the next PSC board is composed of astute and
impeccable personalities. The grave mistake of appointing a retired police
officer as the chairman of the PSC must be avoided. The intendment behind the
creation of the PSC is not to militarize the NPF but to civilianize it
and provide effective checks and balances on its headship at all times. Also,promoting police officers on the recommendation of the IGP is illegal and unconstitutional. The
PSC is expressly empowered both constitutionally and legally to appoint (promote), dismiss and discipline any member of
the NPF other than the IGP without recourse to the IGP’s so
calledrecommendation. The IGP is the operational head of the
Force and nothing more than that.
We urge Your
Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, as
the chairman of the Southeast Governors’ Forum, to be more proactive,
protective and outspoken whenever the lives, liberties and interests of the
people of Igbo-Southeast such as the foregoing are under threats. The
slaughtering of thousands of the Southeast people on yearly basis by lawful and
unlawful armed malicious elements in the country is partly because of the
lopsidedness being complained of and quietness of the graveyard on the part of the zone’s top
public office holders. The leaders of the zone under Your
Excellency’s leadershipmust no longer sound and behave like a conquered
people, which
they are not. Nigeria, as Your Excellency is aware, belongs to all of us. Our
people must be maximally protected in any part of the country at all times. The
Jonathan’s Presidency must no longer be made to look like Jonathan rules and Igbo people get perished political
game.
Source News
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