The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
has criticized the Nigerian Senate for declaring the Inspector General of
Police, Ibrahim Idris Kpotum, ‘an enemy of democracy’ over the latter’s refusal
to honour its invitation.
Its Director, Prof Ishaq
Akintola, in a statement on Tuesday, accused the Senate of leaving important
matters to fight a seeming personal battle.
He said the Nigeria Police
deserved commendation for its achievements in recent times.
“The arrest of big time criminals
like Evans the kidnap kingpin; the Offa dare-devil armed robbers who killed 17
people in a single operation; Ibrahim Umar who confessed that he used to drink
the blood of kidnapped victims and Niger State kidnap specialist Matarari
Saidu.
“Just yesterday, 14th May, 2018,
police nabbed Barau Ibrahim a.k.a. Rambo, touted to be one of the most wanted
kidnappers who also dabbles into armed robbery and assassination. Rambo was
notorious for terrorizing Birnin Gwari axis of Kaduna State, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano
expressway and Zamfara State. But what do the police get from Senate for all
these?
“Even if we did not see all the
above achievements of the police, at least one case was reported by MURIC
headquarters in 2017 and we still marvel at the speed with which the police
handled the matter. A luxurious bus in which a female youth corper and member
of MURIC serving in the North was ordered to stop by hoodlums between Abuja and
Kogi states. The driver was shot dead for refusing to stop. The spare driver
took over the wheels and was able to park safely at a distance.
“The occupants spilled into the
bush and from there our member put a call to us at 12 midnight. We called a
commissioner of police who requested for the corper’s number. Within 30
minutes, police had surrounded the location and we soon received a call from
the Abuja Police Commissioner who assured us that the corper was now safe in a
police van.
“The Nigeria Police is a reliable
police force. Give them modern weapons, vehicles, communication gadgets, a good
salary, a motivative welfare package and they will perform wonders. The
Nigerian Police which has just a little over 317,000 men is protecting more
than 193 million Nigerians when global best practices is one policeman to every
500 civilians. Some of them buy their own shoes and uniforms. They are poorly
equipped, overwhelmed, overworked but underpaid. At least they do not enjoy the
luxury of taking home N13.5 million every month (or is it really N29 million?).
“Senate should be promoting the
interest of policemen if indeed our senators know their duties. They should
fight for police welfare. Every Egyptian policeman had a pistol and a
walkie-talkie even as far back as 1975 whereas it is a whole police station
that manages a single walkie-talkie in the Nigeria of 2018. This is a big shame
but our lawmakers care less. Yet it is the same policemen they want to ridicule
who are guarding them day and night. Can’t our lawmakers be grateful for once?
“Senate should leave the IG of
police alone. Let the man concentrate on his job. Respect begets respect but
Senate has no modicum of respect for other arms of government. What happened to
the principle of separation of powers? Senate appears to be harbouring
overambitious elements in the red chamber.”
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If I must ask the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), is the IGP above questioning for accountability? We play politics even at the expense of other people's life. If the head of Internal security of our country feels he's above answering to the call of the our Senate, other arm of Govt, the same place he's budget goes to for approval, then the Law only applied to some Nigerian not all.
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