By
Ringim The forced retirement of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Hafiz Ringim and six Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIGs), have been described as long overdue.
A former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Uche Onyeagucha, said the development was good in view of incessant bomb blasts in the North, insecurity in the countryand the escape of a suspected terrorist, Kabiru Umar, aka Kabiru Sokoto.
He said Ringim was a failure.
Besides the announcement of a former Lagos Police Commissioner, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, as the Acting IGP, the former legislator said there was urgent need for the police to be totally overhauled.
Onyeagucha, in a telephone interview yesterday, said the revelation by the spokesman of Boko Haram that the sect was being sponsored by Northern governors was not new.
He advocated the restructuring of Nigeria, especially with the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC).
Onyeagucha, a former governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Imo State and ex-member of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Police, described Nigeria as underpoliced, with underequippedpolicemen.
He alleged that most of the funds allocated to the police had not been going beyond the office of the IGP, which he described as very unfortunate, saying policemen in Nigeria are equipped to die and not to serve.
The ex-lawmaker said President Goodluck Jonathan must be firm and decisive in sanitising the police and ensuring safety of life and property.
Onyeagucha said: “Ringim woefully failed as IGP. He also failed as AIG in Umuahia, as he could not confront the kidnappers in Abia State, who were terrorising the residents, until soldiers were deployed to restore law and order.
“Policemen in Nigeria are equipped to die and not to serve. Their conditions of service are very horrible. Police should be made functional. Funds should be released to all police commands and stations. Money sent to the police do not go beyond IGP’s office. How can the police be well-equipped?”
The former governorship candidate urged Jonathan to be alive to his responsibilities, by putting an end to the incessant bomb explosions. He said only then will investors be encouraged to come into the country.
SOURCE: The Nation, 26 January 2012. http://www.thenationonlineng.net
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