…as Buhari appoints DIG Usman Baba acting IGP
. How Buhari fired Adamu while on official duty in Imo
Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, was on Tuesday sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari a few hours after he issued a shoot-on-sight order against members of the Indigenous People of Biafra over early Monday’s attack by suspected members of the proscribed group on the state Police Command Headquarters and the Federal prison in Owerri.
He issued the order during his visit to Owerri, Imo State, to assess the extent of damage done to security facilities in the state by the suspected IPOB members.
But shortly after, Adamu was replaced with the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, whose appointment as acting Inspector-General of Police by President Muhammadu Buhari was with “immediate effect.”
Adamu, earlier while issuing the shoot-on-sight order in Owerri at the headquarters of the Imo State Police Command, had vowed that IPOB members would not go scot-free.
He had ordered policemen to effectively make use of their rifles by being ruthless in dealing with the members of the proscribed group anywhere they encountered them.
He insisted that IPOB members were behind the Imo prison jailbreak and the burning of the state police command.
Adamu, had sternly warned that “police will not allow these criminals to succeed.”
Meanwhile, ahead of the Adamu’s visit to the state, security was beefed up in the state capital as security operatives were deployed in all the nooks and crannies of Owerri, the state capital.
His visit was sequel to the Monday morning attacks on the state police command headquarters in Owerri and the Owerri Correctional Centre.
The gunmen, who bombed their way into the prison with dynamites, freed 1,884 inmates, telling them to “go home, Jesus has risen. You have no reason to be here again.”
After freeing almost all the suspects at the police command headquarters, the hoodlums also burnt no fewer than 50 vehicles.
The gunmen also set ablaze a car along with a soldier driving it after they attacked a military base at Ukwuorji on Owerri-Onitsha Expressway, where they set ablaze four military operational vehicles.
HOW BUHARI FIRED ADAMU WHILE IN IMO
But a few hours after Adamu’s order to policemen, President Buhari appointed DIG Baba as acting IGP with immediate effect.
Police Affairs Minister, Maigari Dingyadi, disclosed this to State House correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday.
Baba is to take over from Adamu, whose tenure Buhari extended for three months on February 4, 2021.
The sacked IGP has spent only two months out of the three-month extension period.
On February 4, the Police Affairs minister had announced the extension of Adamu’s tenure for three months and this would lapse on May 3, 2021.
Explaining the rationale behind the President’s sack of Adamu before the expiration of his extension period, Dingyadi said, “Mr President is aware of this and you cannot take away that responsibility from him; he’s the one who is in charge of appointing or extending tenures.
“He has now decided to appoint a new person. So, please, allow him that responsibility and we cannot do anything about it.”
He added that the extension granted Adamu by President Buhari was to give room for the detailed process of appointing a new IGP to be followed in line with Section 15 (A) of the 1999 Constitution.
Dingyadi said, “After a thorough check of a shortlist of suitably qualified police officers from the rank of DIGs and AIGs, who are eligible police officers, eligible for appointment as IGP, in line with Section 7, subsection 2 of the Nigeria Police Act (2020), and having regards to seniority, professionalism, record of service and competence, Mr President has approved the appointment of an acting IGP, in the person of Usman Alkali Baba, with immediate effect.
“These changes are in line with the determination of Mr President to rejig the security architecture of the country, to ensure that the security challenges bedevilling the nation are brought to an end.
“Mr President has therefore charged the new appointee to rise to the challenge to ensure policing reform policy of this administration is fully prioritised and implemented to enable the police to perform most effectively for the peace and security of lives and property of all Nigerians.
“Mr President thanks the outgoing IGP, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, for his professionalism and dedication to duty during the period of his tenure. He wished him all the best in his future endeavours.”
The acting IGP, who was born on March 1, 1963 and hails from Gaidam, Yobe State, enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force on March 15, 1988.
Until his appointment, he was Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Force Headquarters.
Baba holds a 1980 Teacher’s Grade II Certificate (TC II) from Teachers’ College, Potiskum, Yobe State and graduated from Bayero University, Kano in 1985 with a degree in Political Science.
He also holds a University of Maiduguri Master degree in Public Administration (1997).