The leadership of the Nigeria Police Force is gripped with the fear that it could be dissolved anytime from now, following the growing rate of insecurity in the country.


Sources close to the Presidency told Saturday Punch on Thursday night that President Goodluck Jonathan‘s security advisers were already fed up with police management team headed by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo.


Onovo, who succeeded Mr. Mike Okiro last year, had been contending with growing insecurity since he assumed office.


Many Nigerians, including police officers, have been killed by armed robbers, with Onovo and his team having no answer to the situation.


Just last Sunday, four journalists were kidnapped near Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, on their way from Akwa Ibom State where they had attended a conference. Since then, Onovo has relocated to the South-East, following a marching order from the Presidency to secure the release of the journalists and burst the kidnapping gangs in the region.


A source said, ”Anytime from now, the Presidency will act on the issue. The Presidency seems to be tired of the several excuses of the police concerning the security situation in the country. If by now we are experiencing this, one can imagine what the situation is likely to be during the general election next year. The thinking in the Presidential Villa is that the man (Onovo) should be allowed to conduct the general election. But as things are now, only God can make that happen.


”The kidnapping is happening in the part of the country he ought to be familiar with. If he cannot curb that, you can imagine how he would perform if such a situation obtains in other parts of the country. I think the only thing now is that the Presidency is yet to decide on who succeeds him.”


President Jonathan had on different occasions lamented the security situation in the country, which he said had worsened.


Speaking at the National Executive Committee meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party on June 17, Jonathan revealed that Nigeria lost the chance to host the Commonwealth Games because of the spate of kidnapping in the country. He added that all the efforts he made to convince members of the international community that Abuja where the events were to hold was far from Niger-Delta region were rebuffed.


The President said the rate of kidnapping in the South-East, especially in Abia State, was not acceptable to his government.


He said, ”The security situation in the country, especially kidnapping, is worrisome. I remember when we were struggling to host the Commonwealth Games, what was used in blackmailing us was kidnapping. I told them, ‘you are talking of kidnapping, I am from the Niger Delta, where we are going to hold these games is Abuja,‘ but they ignored us.”


He said the country could no longer fold its arms and allow criminals to take charge, wondering why many Nigerians would have to hire armoured personnel carriers to go to the market.


The President also said in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday, that the spate of kidnappings was “ a national embarrassment.”


He said, “We have allowed this kidnapping to degenerate to something very embarrassing to us as a nation. We are going to deal with it head on beacuse government will soon procure modern technology to fight the problem.”


Before then, the then Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Lame, had described the the Nigeria Police Force under Onovo as a failure.


Speaking at a meeting he had with the IGP and other members of the police management on March 4, 2010 in his office, Lame said it was high time the top hierarchy of the force woke up or government would have no option but to wield the big stick.


He said while government had fulfilled its own part and obligations to the police, members of the force were yet to reciprocate same. Lame listed areas in which the government had been good to the police to include salary increase, as well as increase in capital projects concerning the force.


Before now, a constable in the police received a minimum wage of N7,000. That has since been increased to N21,000. In 2009, the police had about N21bn as its capital budget. The sum was raised to N30bn in 2010.


He said the crime rate and killings were too much and that government could no longer fold its arms and watch its citizens killed as if there were no policemen in the country.


Lame said, “Regrettably, the Nigerian Police Force has not reciprocated government’s gesture by way of commitment to duty and responsibility to this calling.


“The current rate of crimes across the nation, rising cases of extra-judicial killings, human rights violations, armed robbery, high profile assassinations and deliberate failure to comply with government‘s directive are all testimonies to the sheer incapacity or willful defiance of the police high command to this recommendation and assignment at hand.


”The current security situation in the country is condemnable and unacceptable to the government and good citizens of our great nation. I therefore believe that the time has come for the Nigerian Police High Command to review its strategies in order to perform its duties.


”No responsible government would fold its arms and watch helplessly as its citizens are being maimed or cut down in their prime, when there is a police in place.”


Onovo has lately been doing a lot damage control in the South-East. On Thursday, he was in Awka, Anambra State, where he enlisted the support of traditional rulers to solve the growing incidence of kidnapping in the zone.


He also sought the support of his kinsmen in fighting crimes so that he would not be disgraced out of office. On the kidnapped journalists, he said his men had located the hideout of the kidnappers and were closing in on them.


“We are being careful because we want to free the journalists unharmed,” the IGP said, adding that his men might engage in a shootout with the hoodlums as a last resort to free the abducted journalists.


http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201007173171787

Without a delay yes. He is nothing but an incompetent prick

Replacing him wont do anything. The system is still rotten to the core.

Bring a man like Ribadu to totally redesign and shake up the system. Then replace Onovo.

EzeUche:

Replacing him wont do anything. The system is still rotten to the core.

That is not important. He should be butted out pronto. He is a self-seeking incompetent buffoon and an ignorant liar.

Onovo is nt d problem. D problem na our politicians,they use these guys as thugs 2 rig electns,and other vices,and turn them 2 monsters.kidnapng is bad bt we c these evil men daily steal 9ja dry.i hp sometin happen sn otherwise ts might lead us 2 haitti.wat a country.balogun,and indeed almost all police men in 9ja dey bad.sme of them drink wt devil

@ikenahill,
you have a point, but the pres. can only deligate to those he think have the ability to perform otherwise you r gone.
olofo/onovo bye bye.
i mean what was he thinking giving the kidnappers 24hrs to release their victims, that was a bad move.

Onovo is the lead so he is responsible. he needs to do something that would send signals for subordinates to perform better. Remember the way he publicly denied Ribadu's visit to Nigeria when Gani died even when told that the visit was televised by local media before his press conference.

During Anini saga, IBB had to publicly embarrass IGP Etim Inyang by asking him "Where is Anini' not long after then, Anini was apprehended.

Onovo BAD and should be removed I see him more like a child.

Like I said earlier, we need a Ribadu to totally uproot the police leadership, Onovo, his deputies and their equivalents at state level. replace the bunch of clowns with graduates and forward looking people more attuned to todays World and committed to the future of the country.
The same should happen to the EFCC.

Thats the job I suggest the Presidency gives Ribadu without blinking an eye.

The answer is state police. how can one man run the police in the whole country? The governors can only sit there and watch while there state is being destroy whenever mayhem is erupted.it is a shame. The governors are the ones who know the whole state and different locations, areas, and neighborhoods, therefore he knows where to set up police precincts or departments filled with police and police cars for area. I mean is it that hard for these monkeys to figure out?

If there is state police there would be know need for Onovo. Besides that, as of now, he should be sacked even though the way the nigerian police force is set up it is no way the country can be monitored or have quality under a democracy or civilian rule, he could have shown a better presentation of himself. Showing the average nigerian that their lives aint worth s.hit unless youre a hotshot like a politician, JOURNALIST, or an actor makes him look like a useless buffoon! He went against the presidents order and help Ibori leave the country(wondering why he wasnt sacked then), showed a lack of being able to remain calm when under pressure instead he goes and blames citizens from a particular part of the country, and allows the officers who murder innocent people to remain on the force.

HE HAS GOT TO GO!

Beaf:

Like I said earlier, we need a Ribadu to totally uproot the police leadership, Onovo, his deputies and their equivalents at state level. replace the bunch of clowns with graduates and forward looking people more attuned to todays World and committed to the future of the country.
The same should happen to the EFCC.

Thats the job I suggest the Presidency gives Ribadu without blinking an eye.

I agree with you. am sure there are still many Ribadus in the system. I just hope that GJ has the eagle eye to fish them out, else we will always go in cycle

One of the plus of Obj govt was his ability to fish out many good hands that helped him piloted the affairs of the country.

Imagine how the police will be if a forward thinking IGP who is technologically aware and of high integrity is handling the police force.

The man should go.
It will not change anything, but at least it will show that incompetence is no longer rewarded.
The new person might not be much different as the problem is the system.
the system can only be changed from the top (Aso rock).
the present occupant of Aso rock is incapable of effecting the needed change.
More importantly, i think the systemic change we need is not the gradual type but a sudden eruptive one.
Unfortunately, it has to be truly violent to be effective.

agabaI23:

Imagine how the police will be if a forward thinking IGP who is technologically aware and of high integrity is handling the police force.

it would not be much different.
you are misdiagnosing the problem.
the problem is not just the head, the system is rotten.
As bad as Onovo is, the police force is nothing to write home about.
a good IG would make somne difference but not much.

mbulela:

it would not be much different.
you are misdiagnosing the problem.
the problem is not just the head, the system is rotten.
As bad as Onovo is, the police force is nothing to write home about.
a good IG would make somne difference but not much.

Do you know how much a 'some difference' will mean to Nigerians?

Problems are not solved in a day. Small difference will lead to a bigger difference.

It took one man, Ribadu to scare 419 operatives away from cybercafes.
The same man Ribadu put fears in the governors.

Do we have corrupt EFCC operatives in Ribadu's time? The answer is YES.

The leadership matters a lot.

You know what this means? 'Haa, this Oga is different oo, no be the same kind of IG be this' If you hear this across police formations in the country. It means a lot.

Again, a high intergrity police IG means that money meant for the officers welfare will get to them and he would know the effect of good welfare package on police employee motivation especially when the risk of death is on the cards.

It will mean a lot my friend!

The man should be fired immediately. He FAILED.

We need state police because that is the institutional change that will guarantee a permanent solution to the problem.
We need our towns and villages back. Only state police can deliver that. I want to be free to walk and drive in the night again. Current system can never deliver that even if the best brain in the world heads it.

For now Onovo should be FIRED for GROSS INCOMPETENCE. 

^^^Onovo wey just start work yesterday. Im sure hes only been in charge for ~ 9 months. He cant be responsible for something thats been happening long before his time.

Please let us harness all necessary efforts to disintegrate Nigeria. I am sick and tired of these loquacious blaming gestures. Any society burdened with laws that ban guns from private ownership, corrupt government officials and grossly inefficient police force will experience the social decadence seen in Nigeria.

Ibime:

^^^Onovo wey just start work yesterday. Im sure hes only been in charge for ~ 9 months. He cant be responsible for something thats been happening long before his time.

Yes I know, but he is a fuul, and a fuul cannot solve a complex problem. He decided to sacrifice the integrity of his people just to retain his position. If he was a wise honest man, he would have resigned if he cannot think of any revolutionary changes to the Nigerian police force. His answer to the problem is a public rant against the same people who secured him the job in the first place. I don't hold out any hopes for reforms under him. So Jonathan should fire him and find someone with the ideas.

Onovo's only achievement is the delivery of a new police uniform for senior officers.

If any person is qualified to be fired because of lawlessness in Nigerian society; I sincerely submit without prejudice that executive president of the country is it. Many political idiots are busy preparing for the 2011 election when the entire society of Nigeria is in utter socio-politico-economic dismay.

Yes the police has a lot to answer for, however, the problems of high youth unemployment would not magically disappear by changing IG; the security issue is a bit more complex than that.

with elections round the corner, i'm not so sure our pdp govt will be in a hurry to flush out the current crop of police bosses - when they cannot be sure that the new ones can be counted on to harass and intimdate pdpd into another 'landslide' victory at the polls

onovo is an embarassment, he needs to at the very least, shut his mouth - his tenure has been one long reign of embarrassing soundbites

warning to nollywood to stop using police uniforms in movies
we will monitor elections with satellite
24 hr ultimatum to kidnappers
blaming victims for traveling by road instead of by air
threatening to prosecute citizens who pay ransom to kidnappers
appealing to his kinsmen to 'help their brother '

as has been stated, the problem is that 90 of the people in the police force have no idea how to tackle/combat crime in the first place - the nigerian police force produced oyato governor

[quote][quote]

[/quote][/quote]

The  Nigeria police force as now constituted, is outlasting it useful life. Policing urgently need decentralization Police department should be a local govt. affair. With a police chief answerable to the chairman. Local govt. chairman appoints, or nominate candidate with counsel members approval. And state police department to deal with intra- state issues. And a national charter for interstate crimes.  local force made up of local folks will easily get coperations of citizens to help solve crimes. Moreover as an indigene, they are likely to know who the bad guys are. Our National police as it is now, is a decoration. They cannot, and will not be able to protect citizens when push turn to shove

I tend to agree with Amazonia that the police presently is obsolete and virtually of no use as it is.
A new approach has to be adopted to policing in this country.Sacking the IG all the time is not the solution.
We need to find out how come the police is populated by nit wits and buffoons especially in the rank and file?
You need to relate with them on the streets and you'd feel sorry for this country.
Corruption has eaten soo deep that they cant do any serious work but collect bribe.

Dede1:

If any person is qualified to be fired because of lawlessness in Nigerian society; I sincerely submit without prejudice that executive president of the country is it. Many political idiots are busy preparing for the 2011 election when the entire society of Nigeria is in utter socio-politico-economic dismay.

well said but being a realist you know it ain't gonna happen

Emmy Boy:

I tend to agree with Amazonia that the police presently is obsolete and virtually of no use as it is.
A new approach has to be adopted to policing in this country.Sacking the IG all the time is not the solution.
We need to find out how come the police is populated by nit wits and buffoons especially in the rank and file?
You need to relate with them on the streets and you'd feel sorry for this country.
Corruption has eaten soo deep that they cant do any serious work but collect bribe.

the crux of the matter.
I think it is because the system sets up the society to have such police.
the police job is a very corruptible job every where in the world.
Ours is most decadent and exceedingly corrupt because we have a system that makes it flourish.
in other climes, the system makes it very difficult to get away with corruption and even makes it unattractive to pursue corrupt tendencies.
i am not convinced that the average Nigerian (including police men) are inherently more corrupt than their colleagues elsewhere.
In a system where you know you can get away with anything, you know that as long as it is a government job mediocrity and ineptitude is expected and often celebrated, in such a system you get the kind of police we have.
Until we have a political leadership that decides to bulk the trend and match action with words, we are doomed.
changing IG is a cosmetic solution which i support but the root cause goes way deeper.
I said elsewhere and i still hold that view that the police officers are not more corrupt than most Nigerians,the fact is just that being law enforcers, they have more opportunities and being the enforcers have the liberty to get away with almost anything.When you then factor in the illiteracy in the force, you have a potent mix.

agabaI23:

Do you know how much a 'some difference' will mean to Nigerians?

Problems are not solved in a day. Small difference will lead to a bigger difference.

It took one man, Ribadu to scare 419 operatives away from cybercafes.
The same man Ribadu put fears in the governors.

Do we have corrupt EFCC operatives in Ribadu's time? The answer is YES.

The leadership matters a lot.

You know what this means? 'Haa, this Oga is different oo, no be the same kind of IG be this' If you hear this across police formations in the country. It means a lot.

you have a point but no where did i say that Onovo should not be fired.
i simply said that it is not the solution.
your subsequent comments bear witness with my view point.
After Ribadu left, what next?
has looting by governors not gone haywire?
the problem is the top (aso rock).
if we have a govt that would act like ribadu did from the top and develop systems that would outlive them, then we are headed in the right direction.
Not this pretentious lot that are no different from the past.

mbulela:

the crux of the matter.
I think it is because the system sets up the society to have such police.
the police job is a very corruptible job every where in the world.
Ours is most decadent and exceedingly corrupt because we have a system that makes it flourish.
in other climes, the system makes it very difficult to get away with corruption and even makes it unattractive to pursue corrupt tendencies.
i am not convinced that the average Nigerian (including police men) are inherently more corrupt than their colleagues elsewhere.
In a system where you know you can get away with anything, you know that as long as it is a government job mediocrity and ineptitude is expected and often celebrated, in such a system you get the kind of police we have.
Until we have a political leadership that decides to bulk the trend and match action with words, we are doomed.
changing IG is a cosmetic solution which i support but the root cause goes way deeper.
I said elsewhere and i still hold that view that the police officers are not more corrupt than most Nigerians,the fact is just that being law enforcers, they have more opportunities and being the enforcers have the liberty to get away with almost anything.When you then factor in the illiteracy in the force, you have a potent mix.

The above could not be farther from the crux of the matter. Neither is the political leadership to blame.
You've got it upside down and are begging the topic; if the problem is the system, how can you blame the political leadership? The "leaders" operate within a flawed architecture.

Let us all make it a point to emphasise true federalism as the only workable architecture for Nigeria (or we separate). With true federalism, we will have accountability. With the present system, your state gov is accountable to Abuja, not to you; so he doesn't care what you say or think. The policeman on the street is accountable to the IG, so he doesn't give a toss about your thoughts on "roger". We run an upside down system that was deliberately designed for corruption; lets blame our fake "federalism" or we'll end wasting energy screaming into the wind.

What every consensious and thinking Nigerian must do, is keep hammering credible elections as our only way forward. We should be ready to burn, protest and make sure it is delivered. Credible elections are our only hope of changing Nigerias architecture bloodlessly.

The whole freakin police force should be disbanded, Let the militaty come in for 6months.