Kayode Egbetoku
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has urged President Bola Tinubu to sack Kayode Egbetoku, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), for being incompetent.
HURIWA also “expressed shock that the non-performing and grossly incompetent Inspector-General of Police has been retained even when the internal security architecture of the country has virtually collapsed and different armed non-state actors have continued to unleash mayhem and violence on a massive scale in Nigeria.”
The call for the removal of IGP is coming on the heels of Tinubu’s change in the hierarchy of the service chiefs in furtherance of the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture.
Realnews quotes HURIWA as stating that the government’s decision to rejig the security heads of the Country was contained in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, on Friday in Abuja.
Tinubu named Olufemi Oluyede as the new Chief of Defence Staff, replacing Christopher Musa. Also, W. Shaibu is the new Chief of Army Staff while SK Aneke takes over as Chief of Air Chief, while I. Abbas is the new Naval Chief but E.A.P Undiendeye remains unchanged as Chief of Defence Intelligence.
The President commended the outgoing Service Chiefs for their patriotic service and dedicated leadership, while urging the new appointees to justify the confidence reposed in them and to uphold the professionalism, vigilance, and unity that define the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
Reacting, “HURIWA stated that the reconstituted service chiefs to a good extent reflected the federal character principles of the Nigerian constitution but blasted the President for allowing ethnic sentiments to be cloud his decision by failing to relieve the incompetent and inefficient Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun of his position so as to appoint a younger and much more competent officer as a replacement.
“If there is any of the security heads who should be booted out with immediate effect, the Inspector-General of Police Mr. Kayode Egbetokun ranks highest because the Nigeria Police Force under his watch have significantly become weaker operationally just as the intelligence capacity of the NPF has evaporated into thin air because the hierarchy of the police lacks what it takes to adequately police all nooks and crannies of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The only reason the president left the IGP is because he is a kinsman of the president and has been his chief security officer for 8 years in Lagos when the current president was the governor of Lagos state. The Nigeria police Force is a spent Force and has degenerated in professionalism and has become very compromised, corrupt and bribery-infested.
“The changes in the heads of the security agencies for now is incomplete for as long as the poorly performing IGP is left on his seat just as the President had violated the constitution by retroactively enforcing the amendment to the Police Act of 2020 to extend the tenure of the IGP just so the police can be deploy to manipulate the coming general elections in 2027 in favour of the National ruling political party if the All Progressives Congress.
