Headlines
Nigeria Police Force undergoes major reorganisation
…IGP redeploys 11 commissioners of police
BY NICHOLAS ABE
The federal government has embarked on a major reorganisation of the Nigeria Police with the creation of five additional zonal commands, decentralisation of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department (FCIID) and granting of full autonomy to the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB).
With this development, the FIB, which was previously a section under the FCIID, is now a full-fledged department to be headed by a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG). Also, the Force now has eight departments and each will be headed by a DIG.
Force PRO, DCP Frank Mba, said in a statement that the reorganisation is in accordance with the full implementation of the Federal Government Community Policing initiative and part of efforts at addressing threats posed by the dynamics of crimes in the country.
“The Federal Government also approved the further decentralisation of the FCID with the establishment of two additional offices in Enugu and Gombe States. While the office in Enugu is expected to take care of investigations of major crimes emanating from the South-East and South-South geo-political zones, the office in Gombe will take care of the North-East geo-political zone. Each of these Annexes, in addition to the pre-existing ones in Lagos and Kaduna states, shall be headed by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) who shall report to the DIG in-charge of the FCID, Force Headquarters, Abuja.
“In a similar vein, five (5) new Police Zonal Command Headquarters have been created for the Nigeria Police Force in addition to the hitherto existing twelve (12) Zonal Command Headquarters. This makes a total of seventeen (17) Zonal Command Headquarters in the country. The five (5) new Zonal Commands are: Akure (Ondo/Ekiti Commands), Awka (Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi), Yenagoa (Bayelsa, Rivers Commands), Maiduguri (Yobe, Borno Commands) and Katsina (Katsina, Kaduna Commands),” the statement elaborated.
The eight departments are:
- Department of Finance and Administration
- Department of Operations
- Department of Logistics and Supply
- Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID)
- Department of Training and Development
- Department of Research and Planning
- Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- Force Intelligence Department
READ: Ikpeazu’s protest letter on removal of Abia CP, Otti responds
The statement said that Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Police Council, for approving the reorganisation and expressed confidence that the reorganisation “will further bring policing closer to the people, improve the response time of the Police to incidents across the country and generally promote efficiency in service delivery.”
Meanwhile, IGP Adamu has ordered the immediate posting/redeployment of the following Commissioners of Police to Commands/Formations as follows: Osun State, CP Undie J. Adie; Edo State, CP Johnson Babatunde Kokumo; Bauchi State, CP Lawal Jimeta Tanko; Ebonyi State, CP Philip Sule Maku; Gombe State, CP Ahmed Maikudi Shehu; Ondo State, CP Bolaji Amidu Salami; Oyo State, CP Joe Nwachukwu Enwonwu; Eastern Port, CP Evelyn T. Peterside; EOD, CP Okon Etim Ene; Airport Command, CP Bello Maikwashi and Anti-Fraud Unit (FCID Annex Lagos), CP Olukolu Tairu Shina.