IGP, PSC chair meet retired IGPs, vow collaboration

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, IGP Solomon Arase (retd.), on Wednesday, met with retired IGPs at the Police Service Commission Corporate Headquarters, Jabi, Abuja.

The PUNCH reports that the meeting which was at the instance of Dr Arase, discussed effective partnership amongst other salient issues affecting the PSC and the Nigeria Police Force, drawing experiences from the retired officers who had at various times piloted the affairs of the NPF and the PSC.

The retired IGPs who graced the occasion are Sunday Ehindero, Ogbonna Onovo, a former PSC Chairman, Mike Okiro, and the incumbent Chairman, Police Trust Fund, Suleiman Abba.

The PSC Chairman, Arase appreciated the IGP and retired IGPs for honouring his invitation while assuring that the commission under him will not relent in making sure that the welfare of police officers is well catered to.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, IGP Baba assured of the commitment of the NPF under the current leadership to positively collaborate with the PSC for effective implementation of the Police Reform Agenda, as he appreciated the PSC Chairman for the thoughtfulness in assembling the eggheads for the laudable meeting.

Baba said, “The IGPs all retired after attaining the pinnacle of the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, all of them are retired IGPs, and before I join them (retire), I need to tap from their experiences. I need to also inform them of some of the very positive developments that the police have attained during my leadership.

“I appreciate the support that I got from the government, the support and synergy of other colleagues, and those in the defence and other security agencies, the support from members of the public both in the diaspora and in Nigeria.

“We have spoken greatly on how to continuously meet and discuss contemporary issues affecting law enforcement in Nigeria. This is not our first time meeting. We’re just reinventing it and making it more frequent.

“The meeting with the retired IGs have been going on, and the contributions have had a positive effect on the NPF, and we’re going to be having such meetings quarterly.

“Crime prevention and control is an issue that is very dynamic and requires a dynamic approach. So, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and we’ll continue to discuss and cooperate.

“We have also gotten one of our retired IGPs (Arase) as the Chairman of the PSC. So, it is also in solidarity that the serving and retired IGPs have faith in him, and we have also discussed some of the ways forward that will amend the relationship between the NPF and the commission which are headed by a serving and a retired IGPs.

“So, the way forward is that we’ll begin to see the complete synergy between the NPF and the PSC in terms of appointments, recruitments, disciplining and promotion of officers among others, in a very acceptable manner and with the laid down process.”

Also speaking to journalists, IGP Sunday Ehindero (retd.) said, “The IGP and the retired IGPs had a meeting and we deliberated on the contemporary problems of the police. We commended the IGP for the successful completion of the 2023 elections.

“The conduct of policemen has not been in doubt, maybe because of technology and the development of the law.

“We also look at the contemporary issues and challenges facing the Nigeria Police. We think very strongly that the IGP and the retired IGPs should make their voices vocal on contemporary issues.

“We should be able to support the IGP with our views. On the whole, I think the problems that we are having in the country but political, social, and economic are a passing phase for the police.

“And, although the international community may ask their nationals to withdraw, we in this country have a way of solving our problem.

“And I believe very strongly in the saying, I believe made by Benson Jackson, who said this country is a country where the worst never happens. Where people think that the worst would happen, we always have a way of resolving our problems.

“So we have deliberated, and there is a very assuring hope for the society in respect to performance and direction of the Nigeria Police Force.”