Okiro orders arrest of policemen guarding individuals

By Our Reporter - 27.12.2007

THE Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, has ordered the arrest of policemen serving as personal security aides to individuals in the country.

The directive, the Nigerian Tribune gathered, came on the heels of the recall of over 3,000 policemen sacked by the immediate past administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Mr. Okiro, it was gathered, ordered a halt to the practice in which policemen served as personal security attachees to “highly placed individuals” in the society.

Though similar orders were said to have been issued in the past without any result, the Nigerian Tribune learnt that the Inspector General had vowed that it would be enforced this time round.

Already, the police boss was said to have ordered the dispatch of officers to various parts of the country to arrest policemen who might want to flout the directives.

Also, the Nigeria police authorities have recalled 3,109 of the over 10,000 policemen who were sacked for various reasons during the administration of former President Obasanjo, sources close to the police headquarters in Abuja told Pan-African News Agency (PANA) on Wednesday.

The sources said Okiro, newly confirmed as Inspector General of Police, ordered the recall of the policemen following the consideration of their petitions.

The policemen, with the ranks of Inspectors, Constables and Corporals, will resume work in January.