By CHIOMA IGBOKWE
Recent issues unfolding from revelations by Senator Isah Misau of alleged corrupt practices by the Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, have propelled a thorough searchlight on his (IGP’s) appointees.
Among the allegations he made was that the police boss appointed a junior Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, Imohimi Edgal, to assume duties as the acting Commissioner of Police in Lagos State.
Investigation by Daily Sun revealed that the new Commissioner of Police in Lagos has been a victim of the long-criticized quota system seemingly inherent in the Nigeria Police. This should be attested to by the way he embraced the challenges ahead in policing the state and succeeded within so short a time in recording landmark achievements.
This was after he uprooted the dreaded badoo cult group that was ravaging Ikorodu and its environs in the state as the Deputy Commissioner in charge of operations in the state. Subsequently, as soon as he assumed leadership as the acting Commissioner of Police, he demolished the killer shrines in the area thereby putting a permanent stamp on the criminal activities of the gang. Similarly, he embarked on townhall meetings with all the stakeholders in security all over Lagos and in no distant time, it paid off with positive results that came from parley.
Interestingly, facts emerged that the acting Commissioner of Police who has served 31 years in the police as a graduate cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police, has his course mates far more ahead of him in police hierarchy.
Presently, some of his course mates have moved up to enviable positions as Deputy Inspector-General of Police and Assistant Inspector-General of Police. The list includes but not limited to; the present Deputy Inspector-General of Police, DIG, Logistics, Maigari Dikko, AIG Zone 2, Onikan Lagos, Adamu Ibrahim and AIG POLAC, Zani Mohammed.
In the Commissioner cadre; we have CP Odude Abiodun of Oyo State, CP Fimihan Adeoye of Osun State, CP Gbenga Adeyanju of Ondo State, CP Bashir Manama of Benue State, CP Shola David of police Cooperative , etc. Police sources revealed that the promotion of Imohimi Edgal who is from Edo State was stagnated for long due to the quota system even though his operational records beat that of most of his colleagues. This, according to sources, could be attested to by all the commissioners of police he served under at various times.
Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police; Marvel Akpoyibo who he served under when he was the CP Lagos has this to say about him. “Edgal is a very seasoned officer, highly professional, cerebral and fearless. He performed his duties with passion and uncommon commitment. He does not tolerate crime and he fights crime very doggedly and takes joy in ensuring success where others failed.
“His choice as CP Lagos is very appropriate because he knows the terrain; and it will be easy for him to ensure a crime-free Lagos. I am not aware that he is a junior commissioner of police because if we are to go by merit, nothing stops him from being a commissioner of police. He has suffered delay because of where he comes from. If you are to consider productivity, he is more than qualified to be CP Lagos.”
A Lagos-based businessman who recently relocated to Abuja, Laz Ogbonna also told Daily Sun that “they should leave that man alone to perform his duties as a law enforcement officer. IGP Idris should be commended for having the foresight to appoint such a man that has been deprived for long because of quota system in the police force to head a volatile area like Lagos.”
Similarly, National Coordinator of Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria, NOPRIN, Okechukwu Nwanguma said: “Based on what I have seen him do on his appointment as Acting CP Lagos within the short period he has been in office, the significant difference he has made, I can safely describe him as performing. NOPRIN sent him a petition concerning very discreditable conduct by then OC Anti Kidnapping. And unlike other senior police officers of his rank, he responded in a way that I considered unprecedented and praiseworthy.