The Amazing Story of the Police Equipment Fund The idea of the Police Equipment Fund was the brainchild of three friends, Evangelist Joseph Agharite, Dr Godson Ewulum and Prince Ibrahim Dumuje back in 2004. Their proposals didn’t seem to make sense to the then Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero and the Minister for Police Affairs, Broaderick Bozimo. They thus recruited Kenny Martins, an in-law to the then President, Chief Obasanjo to help push the proposal. It was Martins who advised that the proposal should be broadened to N 100 billion from the initial N 1 billion as the police would need much more than they envisaged. One of the principals, Joseph Agharite died in the 2005 Bellview air crash. Before long, the idea received Presidential approval and a Committee on Police Equipment Fund was set up by the President in 2006. The committee was saddled with the responsibilities of transforming the police, raising funds and mobilizing resources to help the police. Being a Presidential committee, a lot of support came from within the country and beyond. The Chinese Government and some organizations gave about $500 million, the then Ivorian President gave $ 3 million, the Federal Ministry of Finance gave N 10 billion while N 7.78 billion was deducted at source from the local government statutory allocation while N 150 million came as support from some foreign sources. It was around that time that a metamorphosis took place and the Police Equipment Fund suddenly became the Police Equipment Foundation with Chief Kenny Martins as the National coordinator. The Foundation bought more than a thousand cars most of which ended as gifts while an exotic pre-launch dinner was also held. Findings revealed that the dinner set the Foundation back by about N 200 million. The idea of equipping the police with armored vehicles, body armours, arms and ammunition suddenly fizzled away as the funds meant for the project ended up in individual purses. The Nigeria States and Local Government Trade and Tourism Fair (NIGERSALG) is the name under which the Foundation was registered. In the forms submitted to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Kenny Martins and Ibrahim Dumuje were listed as the Board of Directors. Interestingly, the form was signed by Evangelist Joseph Agharite in May 2006. Meanwhile, Agharite died in the air crash in October, 2005. Source: The Street Journal
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:14 +0000
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