Punch Force HQ bombing almost claimed Ringim, others —Jonathan JUNE 13, 2013 BY OLALEKAN ADETAYO, ABUJA President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday recalled how he shunned an advice to sack the then Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, and other top police officers over the 2011 suicide bombing of the Force Headquarters in Abuja. He said the thinking of the unnamed people who advised him on the incident was that if he came down hard on policemen from the rank of Assistant Commissioners of Police and above, who were serving in the Louis Edet House headquarters of the police over the bombing, subsequent occupants of the office would be alive to their responsibilities. The Abuja police headquarters was bombed on June 16, 2011, in what was believed to be the first suicide bombing in Nigeria’s history. The bomber was said to have followed Ringim’s convoy and drove a car bomb into the premises of the police headquarters. The bomber and a traffic policeman died on the spot, while several other people were injured and cars razed. Speaking shortly after swearing in the Chairman of the new Police Service Commission, Mr. Mike Okiro, and five other members recently approved by the Senate, Jonathan said those who advised him were miffed that a bomber could drive into the premises of the police headquarters, which was supposed to be a secured place. Those inaugurated alongside Okiro included a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Yakubu Mohammed, representing North West Zone; Justice Olufunke Adekeye (South West); Aisha Tukur (North East); Ms. Comfort Obi (South East) and Chief Torngee Toranyiin (North Central). The President said, “One thing and probably I will mention here today is the issue of Nigeria Police. You will agree with me that Nigerians don’t have so much confidence in the Nigerian Police but Nigeria Police are good. “The Nigeria Police that work outside under United Nations are highly honoured, highly commended, and Okiro will agree with me. But once we come back home, that is not reflected in what we do. “Even now that we have challenges you will see that, especially when the Police Headquarters was bombed, some people came to me and said, ‘Mr. President, sack all police officers working in that place from Assistant Commissioner of Police and above.’ “I did not sack any because of that incident but that was the advice I got: that ‘if you do that, subsequent people that would be posted there will sit up. How could the police allow their headquarters to be bombed by a very local group called Boko Haram.’ “But I believe there are two things: one is the issue of discipline. And so one of the responsibilities of the Police Service Commission is to instil discipline. Another thing I believe is that people who have no merit to certain ranks are being promoted to those ranks. One of your responsibilities is to handle promotion. I believe with you, only those who merit or deserve promotion would be promoted.” Jonathan attributed what he called the abysmal performances of the nation’s security agencies to the lopsided nature of promotions in the organisations. He said many officers, who did not deserve particular ranks, were being promoted to occupy the positions in total disregard for merit, performance and competence. Citing the example of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Jonathan said he was shocked to discover recently through intelligence report that five out of six top officers whose names were forwarded to him for consideration for the position of the Comptroller-General of Immigration ought to have been dismissed from the service for misconducts. Jonathan said, “Those who deserve to be disciplined or even dismissed must be disciplined. Few days back, I did approve the new Comptroller-General of Immigration. They brought the list of about six (officers) that were to be reviewed, some were sent from the ministry, some were picked from amongst the most senior.”
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:48:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015