Promotions in police beget rising discontent

Posted by admin Headlines, Nigerian Police Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

Nigerian Police Force

A storm is gathering over the recent promotions of a few senior police officers in the country, writes ADEOLA BALOGUN

Consequent upon the promotion of some of its senior officers to the ranks of Assistant Inspector-General and Deputy Inspector-General last month, a cloud of uncertainty appears to overhang the Nigeria Police Force.

As soon as the promotions were announced, some officers, who were dissatisfied with the nature of the exercise, had kicked against it.

The disgruntled police officers had written petitions to President Goodluck Jonathan, the Senate President, David Mark, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and to the Police Service Commission, to register their displeasure with the promotions.

A source at the Force Headquarters in Abuja described the deluge of protest letters as ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ and a symptom of the rising discontent in rank and file of the NPF.

The high-ranking officer confided in CRIME DIGEST on condition of anonymity that such complaints were not new to the authorities, adding that they challenged the foundation of the rot that was rife in the law enforcement agency.

The source said that in separate letters dated Feb 24, 2012, the officers, whose ranks range from Superintendent to AIG, had described the promotions as strange, ridiculous and suspicious. They argued that the elevation of five junior Commissioners of Police to the rank of DIG, ahead of their superiors, had created disaffection within the NPF.

The aggrieved senior police officers had dragged the PSC to the Presidency and the National Assembly, alleging corruption and procedural irregularities in the conduct of the recent promotions, which were announced by the PSC.

The disenchanted officers also took their grievance to the Committees on Public Petition and Police Affairs in the two chambers of the National Assembly.

Seven police officers, including two AIGs and five CPs, were elevated to the rank of DIG on Feb 22 by the PSC. The beneficiaries included Suleiman Fakai, Atiku Kafur, both of them former AIGs. The others were Emmanuel Udeoji, Haruna John, Peter Gana, Marvel Akpoyibo, and Abdurahaman Akano, who were all commissioners of police.

Also, the commission promoted 13 CPs to the rank of AIG. Those elevated were Solomon E. Olusegun, Michael E. Zuokumor, Orubebe Gandhi Ebikeme, Philemon I. Leha, Jonathan Johnson, and Dan’azumi Job Doma. Commissioners of Police, Joseph Ibi, Muktari Ibrahim, Suleiman Abba, Mamman Ibrahim Tsafe, Saliu Argungu Hashimu, Solomon E. Arase, and David O. Omojola also made the AIG list.

The protesting police officers alleged in four petitions entitled, Fraudulent and Dishonest Promotion in the Nigeria Police, that the elevations were marred by corruption, nepotism, favouritism, bias and high-handedness which, according to them, had further created disharmony in an already disenchanted police force.

While accusing the PSC of making a mockery of the exercise, the aggrieved officers said certain basic criteria, which included seniority, experience, educational qualification, pedigree, merit and geo-political expediencies, were jettisoned in the selection process.

CRIME DIGEST learnt that the much-vaunted reforms promised by the new Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, may face hitches.

The officer said, “It may surprise you to learn that some of the IG’s course mates are still nursing the rank of Chief Superintendent of Police, while others were promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police in 2010. In fact, one of them lamented that Abubakar turned out to be one of his lecturers at an induction course, about 12 years after they finished training together.

“The officer was very bitter that 12 years after they trained together, Abubakar became one of his lecturers at the induction course that took place at the Police Staff College in Jos. What do you expect from such a dejected officer other than half-hearted commitment? And it is not that the man had any disciplinary record. That is the fundamental problem of the force and many Nigerians don’t know this.

“There is no standard for promotion in the Nigeria Police because any policeman can get promotion anyhow. During training, the first thing they teach you is discipline. But when a junior officer is promoted far above you, you are compelled to salute him. And the man receiving the salute is afraid because he knows that he does not deserve it and this breeds bad blood among officers.”

The protests, which trailed the exercise shortly after the beneficiaries of the promotion exercise were announced, heightened last weekend, as some angry senior officers gathered under the aegis of the Concerned Senior Police Officers to engage in a confrontation with the commission chaired by Mr. Parry Osayande, a retired DIG.

They urged Jonathan to suspend the decoration of the newly-promoted officers and direct a review of the exercise, so as to redress the perceived injustice and other anomalies in the Nigeria Police. They hoped that this would boost the morale of policemen and women across the country, especially at this time of daunting security challenges occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The source said that the average Nigerian policeman worked hard, but, despite his diligence, nobody recognises his input for want of being positioned in the right place.

The source continued, “That is one thing about the military, you may be given rosy posts but they will not promote you over and above your colleagues and seniors without deserving such promotion.

“Look at the list of the new DIGs, you will notice the fact that Marvel Akpoyibo and Haruna John earned the promotion simply because they were in Lagos, which is considered as an ‘attractive spot’ with plenty of attention from the news media. Look at Solomon Arase’s case; he was Principal Staff Officer to four IGs, but he occupied the 84th or 87th position on the list of police commissioners and was promoted AIG.

“We are all human beings. When your mates or your juniors are elevated far ahead of you, it hurts, especially when such promotion is not based on anything special than ‘right connections.’ There are criteria for promotion: seniority, experience and disciplinary record. But seniority takes precedence. The recent promotions in the police have rubbished laid down rules.”

Efforts made to get the reaction of the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Olusola Amore, did not yield result. A text message placed on his cell-phone requesting his response to the petitions on Wednesday was not responded to.

-Punchwp_posts