The open rebuke of the Nigeria Police Force
(NPF) by its supervising minister, Dr. Ibrahim
Lame, is raising eyebrows in the Presidency.
The statement is part of the “political
comments” by ministers, barred by Acting
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Police Affairs Minister Lame had last
Thursday lashed out at the police, accusing
them of lack of commitment in respect of the
worrisome security situation in the country.
The minister had also said he could not see
reasons for the rising spate of armed
robberies and other crimes in the country,
despite government’s efforts to ensure that
an average policeman goes home at the end
of the month with over 200 per cent
increment in salary and the provision of
necessary logistics.
THISDAY learnt that top government
functionaries were taken aback by the
minister’s statement.
Officials at the Presidency reportedly said the
issues which the minister raised could have
been brought up at the Security Council
meeting, rather than at a press conference
which, according to them, helped spread the
impression to the outside world that the
country is unsafe.
Lame had ended up indicting the office of
the National Security Adviser, a source said,
adding: “The police force may be in the first
line as far as security is concerned but it is
not the only security apparatus. We have, in
addition, the State Security Service, Nigeria
Intelligence Agency and even the military, all
coordinated by the National Security Adviser,
General Sarki Muktar (rtd).”
Sources at the Presidency also claimed that
the Police Affairs minister knows the serious
challenges, like funding, facing the new
police leadership.
A member of the police management who
spoke on the issue but was not authorised to
release information on the details made
public by Lame, stated that since his
appointment as the Inspector-General of
Police (IG) last July, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo has
not received any capital vote.
“The delay in budget releases has prevented
the police from acquiring equipment like
telephone tracking devices necessary for
fighting kidnappings,” he said.
“An Anti-Terrorist Squad has been set up and
our men trained in Israel,” disclosed the
source, “but their effectiveness and
efficiency are limited by the absence of basic
facilities.”
At the controversial ministerial press briefing
last Thursday, Onovo named a hostile
environment, poor funding, mass poverty,
ostentation by the elite in Nigeria and several
conflicts in the West African sub-region
which make firearms such as sophisticated
military rifles easily available as some of the
factors militating against the police’s fight
against crime in Nigeria.
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