ASOKORO INVASION TO G-7 MEETING - A DEFENSE WORSE THAN THE CRIME! By :Maiwada Dammallam Knowing fully well he is not a bird, a man falling from the sky would still flap his hands like birds wings to attempt slowing his descent and possibly lessen the impact of hitting the ground. It is a survival instinct. Without it, the man would have known he is not a bird and may as well save his energy for the inevitable fast approaching impact. This was precisely the situation the charismatic and amiable IGP found himself when yesterday he was grilled by the House Committee on Police Affairs to explain the circumstances surrounding the invasion of the Kano Governors lodge, venue of a meeting by the renegade G-7 carried out by a lowly DPO of the rank of CSP. The IGP wriggled and tumbled without satisfactorily solving the mystery behind the assault. Matter of fact, he further exposed the hopelessness of the situation. Simply put, the NPF is being remote controlled by some invisible forces focused on turning Nigeria into a personal empire conquered by brute force. The IGP claimed - and rightly so that he did not send the DPO on such a mission. We all know IGPs dont deal with DPOs but with their commissioners through AIGs via DIGs. There is a specific chain of command/ communication in NPF as there is in other government institutions. Logically one will expect the chain of command in the NPF to be more religiously followed than in other institutions due its paramilitary background, discipline and sensitivity of their profession. This springs other questions. If the IGP didnt order the assault, who did? Most importantly, the IGP must have been briefed in the invitation sent to him by the House Committee about the purpose of the invitation hence, one should expect him to come along with any officer remotely connected to the jurisdiction where the unfortunate event occurred. Alternatively, he should have came with the result of his in- house investigation complete with names of the culprits involved and, possibly actions taken to avert future occurance. Of course, the Committee knows that the right officer to know what transpired was the Commissioner of Police in charge of the FCT but, did he grilled the Commissioner to unravel the mystery that seemed to have caught him off guard as it did many Nigerians? I can only conclude, either the IGP was not the smart professional he look or he was economical with the truth. To compound issues, the IGP speculated that the presence of the DPO could also mean that he was there to ensure the safety and security of the personalities that gathered there. How laughable! The IGP must have forgotten that details of how the DPO made the purpose of his mission to disperse or arrest clear to the governors was news headline for days in Nigeria. It will amuse me to hear the IGP explain why there was never such an expression of security concern for previous congregation of VIPs by the DPO if it was the police procedure the IGP made it looked like. But I was denied that by the committee for refusing to raise the issue. They seemed as unprepared for the bout as the IGP. We can all agree Asokoro is a beehive of activities for governors and there had been occasions when more than 5 governors congregated without such a show of what I termed to be selective security concern for the committee to nail the IGP on that one. By the way, governors do have individual security arrangements legally provided by the NPF. Shouldnt the overzealous DPO wait for a distress call from any of the CSOs attached to these governors by the NPF before he went on his supposed rescue mission? Unless the DPO is of the same breed with the NSCDC Oga at the top fellow, he should have known the implications of his actions to the honour, integrity and neutrality of NPF especially when juxtaposed with what is happening in Rivers state where the name of the NPF is being dragged in the mud by one of their own. I believed the IGP that neither him nor any of his aides directed any police officer to disrupt any meeting - and that is my nightmare. Im now convinced that we have a police force operating completely out of sync with basic procedure of policing a community. What could be more dangerous to a democratic society than a police force seemingly uncoordinated and convincingly detached from objectivity while compartmentalized for individuals to do as they wish with. At least we have the basic mental capacity to understand that the Rivers state Police Command is completely detached and independent of the main frame of the NPF. A few months ago, it was said that the Rivers states Police Commissioner was posted out when it was obvious he has lost the confidence of the people and government of the state by his unprofessional attitude unbecoming of a police officer. He neither move out nor was there any explanation as to why he didnt. The IGP is a good man with an excellent service record but, he is up against more desperate forces that will stop at nothing to get what they want. The collateral for this desperate ambition is the honour and integrity of men and women caught in between this ambition and their moral and professional responsibilities. But it should be acknowledged that history never judges people by their intentions but by their actions. A morally decent IGP will remain just that unless he institutionalized morality into system by respecting the oath of his office. History will be kinder to IGP M.D. Abubakar if he resign his commission rather than supervise a Police Force everybody agrees he is not in control.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 14:10:42 +0000
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