Revisiting The IGP’s Order On Police Orderlies And VIPs In Nigeria

It isn’t anymore news that sustenance of adequate security in any given country remains a major responsibility the government owns.

The above assertion is the reason the various security outfits in such a society including the police, among others, are invariably charged to stop at nothing towards doing the needful in their respective jurisdictions.

A few years back, precisely on Monday, 18th March 2018, during his meeting with Police Commissioners and Assistant Inspectors-General (AIGs) at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the then Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Ibrahim Idris ordered immediate withdrawal of all police orderlies attached to “Very Important Persons” (VIPs) and firms – particularly private individuals and companies – with exception of financial institutions like banks.

The order was following what the boss described as the “effects of the current security challenges in Nigeria”. He stated that the need for streamlining the deployment of orderlies to VIPs was aimed at enhancing effective and efficient policing across the length and breadth of the nation.

Mr. Idris however disclosed that business entrepreneurs, multinational organizations, corporate individuals and entities that require such services and are found to be worthy, would be considered from the Special Protection Unit (SPU) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on application for re-validation through states’ commissioners.

In view of this, according to him, a memorandum would be forwarded to the President for approval, and that would henceforth “serve as a guideline or template for deployment of police officers to VIPs, political office holders” and public officers in general.

The IGP, who recently ordered that all prohibited arms and ammunition should be returned to the police within twenty one days, equally used the occasion to frown at the ongoing proliferation of the police Spy Number plates, covering of Plate numbers as well as illicit use of siren among highly placed Nigerians. Hence, urged his men to take maximum control of the anomaly.

Though the order seemed to be the first of its kind under the reign of Mr. Idris in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), it bore essentially the same content as similar directives issued by his predecessors such as Ogbonna Onovo, Hafiz Ringim and Solomon Arase but eventually failed to hold water in the long run.

It suffices to assert that it was almost as often as the instruction for officers to desist from mounting roadblocks on the various Nigeria’s major roads, yet as days unfold, the ugly practice takes a different dimension. This was exactly my utmost worry.

It had been gathered that about 150,000 police personnel out of a total workforce of about 400,000 across the country were attached to private individuals and companies, leaving only about 250,000 to take charge of state and community policing.

The given statistics is a clear indication that these police officers are more used in the quarters they were not primarily meant for, hence the compelling need to have a review of the Force’s deployment policy.

But it’s quite appalling that, till date, these so-called VIPs still roam about on the Nigerian roads with countless number of orderlies from the Police Force or Civil Defence operatives as if the said outfits were established by their individual efforts.

I cannot agree less with any Nigeria who opines that the country is at the moment strongly in need of more hands as regards community policing. This is why the current IGP, Mr. Usman Baba needs to expedite action towards ensuring that the directives of his predecessors, that meant well for the country at large, are resuscitated, holistically implemented and maintained.

It’s even mind-boggling when noted that some of these police orderlies are safeguarding alleged culpable individuals. The system has become so bad that any influential person can walk up to the police quarters and demand for any number of orderlies, and such requests can never be turned down. This is arguably a worrisome situation that deserves a keen and drastic attention.

It can’t be untrue that after several years of urging prohibited arms and ammunition to be returned to the police, many civilians are still illicitly in possession of the said devices. Does such behavior not signify that most individuals are mightier than the institutions, or more powerful than the extant laws?

More so, it’s pertinent to acknowledge that the NPF needs to be boosted with additional manpower and working incentives to help in cushioning the excruciating effects of insecurity ravaging virtually every facet of Nigeria.

Each day, we are reminded that unemployment remains one of the greatest socio-economic bed bugs living in our midst, yet the workforce of most of our institutions are nothing to write home about. However, the recent move by President Muhammadu Buhari to uplift the present outlook of the Police incentives must be commendable and supported by all well-meaning individuals.

At this juncture, I therefore enjoin the current NPF boss, Mr. Baba to ensure the past mistakes aren’t repeated in this era when everyone seriously looks up to the security outfits.