FG decentralises Nigeria Police

The Federal Government has decentralised the Nigeria police in a major reorganisation thereby ensuring it now has 8-Departments, 17-Zonal Commands and 4-FCID Annexes as part of efforts at addressing threats posed by the dynamics of crimes in the country as well as the full implementation of its Community Policing initiative.

According to a statement by DCP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer, this reorganization includes full autonomy of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), creation of five additional Police Zonal Command Headquarters and the decentralization of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department (FCIID).

“”By this re-organization, the FIB, which was previously a section under the FCIID, is now a full-fledged Department of the Force to be headed by a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG). With this new arrangement, the Nigeria Police Force now has eight (8) Departments and each is headed by a DIG. The 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,” according to the statement

The Federal Government also approved the further decentralization 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 FPRO is quoted as saying ‘the Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni while thanking the President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Police Council, expresses confidence that the reorganization 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. “

In a related development. Edo, Ondo , Oyo and 8 other states have new Commissioner of police respectively as the Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A. Adamu has ordered their immediate posting/redeployment .

The following are their postings to Commands/Formations : Osun State – CP Undie J. Adie Edo State – CP Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, mni Bauchi State – CP Lawal Jimeta Tanko Ebonyi State – CP Philip Sule Maku, fdc 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, fdc Airport Command – CP Bello Maikwashi Anti-Fraud Unit (FCID Annex Lagos) – CP Olukolu Tairu Shina

The Inspector General of Police charges the newly posted officers to ensure they consolidate and advance the gains of their predecessors particularly in the implementation of community-policing, crime prevention, public security, public safety and general crime fighting.

The IGP also enjoins the citizens of the affected states to cooperate with the Commissioners of Police to enable them succeed in their new areas of responsibilities.