The former police inspector general, Mustapha Balogun, has passed on. He died yesterday around 8:30 p.m. at Reddington Hospital in Lekki, Lagos state, after a short illness, family sources said.

Born on August 25, 1947 in Ila Orangun, Osun State, he was promoted to IGP in March 2002. Balogun died at the age of 74. The cause of death is not yet known. He was a member of the cadet assistant of police course 3.

After serving in various police squads across the Federation and receiving his promotions in due course, Tafa was at one point the Chief Staff Officer of former Inspector General of Police Muhammadu Gambo, Edo State Deputy Commissioner of Police, Delta State Pioneer Police Commissioner. He was also a CP in Rivers and Abia states.

Balogun would be remembered for visiting the dreaded Okija Shrine in Anambra state in a show of force at a time of political tension in the state.

The shrine, where politicians were supposed to take the oath of allegiance at the behest of their godfathers, was widely believed to have a reputation for neutralizing rebellious supporters.

But in a dramatic turn of events that ended his career, the former police chief was arrested and tied up on corruption charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) led by Nuhu Ribadu.

Towards the end of 2004, he was charged with massive corruption charges, accusing him of pocketing public funds and accepting bribes from politicians and criminals. This led to his forced retirement in January 2005.

On April 4, 2005, Tafa Balogun was indicted in the Abuja High Court on charges totaling approximately N13 billion obtained through money laundering, theft, and other sources. The Nuhu Ribadu Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed 70 charges against Tafa Balogun, covering the period 2002-2004.

Faced with overwhelming evidence, he entered into a plea deal with the court for the return of much of the property and money. He was sentenced to six months in prison and released on February 9, 2006, after partially serving his sentence at Abuja National Hospital.

Since that humiliating end to his police career, he had largely withdrawn from the public eye, appearing only occasionally at social events.

A member of Nigeria's highest military institution, the National War College, Tafa later became Deputy Inspector General of Police A.I.G Zone One, Kano, from where he was appointed 21st Police IGP on March 6, 2002.

He attended the University of Lagos and graduated in 1972 with a B.A. in political science. In May 1973 he joined the Nigerian Police. As a police officer, he earned a law degree from the University of Ibadan.

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