By Ebinum Samuel
The Recent/ongoing mass retirement of a whole generation of seasoned officers of the Nigeria Police Force after rising from the purported Ist Extra ordinary meeting of the 6th Management Board of the PSC on the regularization of the date of Ist appointment of Cadet Asps/Inspectors who are called Force Entrants based on alleged breach of the Civil service rule which stipulates 35 years of service or the attainment of 60 years of age, is to say the least, a smoke screen as the real underlying reason is the bigotry & promotion of the Northern agenda of the current Chairman of the Police service commission, DIG Hashimu Argungu(rtd) who is on a mission to re-position the officers of Northern extraction to key duty posts across the country.
As background, the public has a right to know that the officers who are today maligned & vilified & compulsorily retired are those of Cadet Asp courses 18/1994, 19/1996, 20/2000 & 21/2002 as well as Cadet Inspectors courses 33/1994, 34/1996, 35/2000 & 36/2002.
These categories of officers were recruited for the Cadet scheme of the Police from within the service of the Police Force having attained higher educational qualifications as encouraged by the erstwhile Police administrators like the late IGP. Etim Okon Inyang of blessed memory. The officers have Ist & higher degrees as well as School Certificates with six credits including Mathematics & English language which till today is even above the minimum entry requirements for university admission. Additionally, they were all carefully selected by a special section board based on: Federal character to cut across all the states of the federation & to be between the age brackets of 25 -28 years for Asps & 20- 25 years for Inspectors. During the selection interview, most states of the North did not have qualified candidates within the service & so for equal representation of the component parts of the country, the same number were recruited either from within or outside the service.
After the screening which took place in three different levels of the States, Zones & National held simultaneously in Abuja for the Northern states & Lagos for the Southern states, the successful cadets were issued letters of appointments and trained afresh for a period of Eighteen(18) & some extra months which no in-service course in the civil service is of such duration. Additionally, the ‘Force Entrants’ had their hitherto monthly salary stopped and were brought to the level of cadets on training and to receive only training allowances for the period the course lasted. The financial records are there to buttress this as the offer they got, it was reiterated, was a fresh/new appointment.
The officers who are now maligned & called cheats, excelled in training & progressed distinguishing themselves earning commendations in various assignments which earned most of them commendations & even special promotions. This explains why some of them have risen to the levels of Asst. Inspector General & Commissioners of Police. It is the jostling for the coverted office of IGP & posting to choice Commands that has brought about the fathom retirement of these senior officers who are 95 percent from the South & about one percent from the North Central. This fact cannot be faulted as it speaks for itself.
The current Chairman of the Police Service Commission, DIG Hashimu Argungu(Rtd) who is from Kebbi state in the North West is therefore, the central player/father figure in the grand scheme for the realignment game called retirement. Already, he has just re- posted his brother as the DC CID Calabar among other key positions to his cronies in the Force.
In all his media campaigns, he has never informed the public that the National Industrial court had in suit nos. NICN/ABJ/345/2019 & NICN ABJ/353/2019 given judgement in this same matter which neither he/the Commission nor the IGP has appealed against rather, they have sworn to act above the law & have become the ”law unto themselves”. In the coming days, there shall be fireworks in the National Industrial court as they have both erred in law & should be relieved of their positions to save this government, which believes in the rule of law, further embarrassment.