CHAIRMAN, Senate committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Igwe, did not surprise many last Thursday, when he sought the leave of the Senate to institute a probe into the dramatic escape of Kabiru Sokoto, the prime suspect in the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, in Niger state. The Senator, who introduced the matter on the Senate floor through Order 42(2) of the Senate Standing Orders 2011 as amended, indicated that the embarrassment caused the nation by the police through the escape of the suspect was monumental, and that such deserved to be thoroughly investigated.

He said: “I want to draw the attention of this Senate to the alleged escape of Kabiru Sokoto, who allegedly masterminded the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, from Police custody. I, therefore, in line with our Order 42(2) rule of this Senate, move a motion on this matter in another legislative day.”

In line with the dictates of the Senate rules, Senator Igwe had earlier discussed the matter with the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark. So Mark told his colleagues that he was really aware of the issue as mentioned by Senator Igwe but he preferred that the Senate Committee should launch an investigation into the matter and report to the plenary within one week.

While the move by Senator Igwe would remain a welcome development at this stage, some questions have arisen from the method he wanted to adopt. By moving the notice of the motion, Senator Igwe was seeking a debate on the matter on the floor of the Senate, where resolutions could then be reached before his committee and, probably, that of National Security and Intelligence, would be mandated to carry out full investigations.While such a process could provide some insights into the thinking of a cross section of senators on the subject matter, it is, however, clear that the real answers to the begging questions surrounding the escape of Kabiru Sokoto can only be provided by proper investigations conducted by the Police Affairs Committee.
But looking at the scenario surrounding police investigations into critical security issues, it appears that the committee will need to dig deep if it must get to the roots of this matter.

To further refresh our memories, Kabiru Sokoto  was suspected to be the mastermind of the dastardly killing of many Nigerians in the premises of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State on Christmas Day, 2011. Some security agencies have been on his trail for sometime. His location was, however, confirmed when a special unit investigating the matter deployed some equipment and trailed him to the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. He was arrested and, according to the police, a cheque of N500,000 was found on him together with a passport with visas to some countries.

Some questions to ask are, why did the suspect slipped off the hands of the police? How did he disappear from the hands of his interrogators, who presumably handcuffed him while taking him on the trip to Abaji? Why did the police detail only a few hands on the trail of such a high profile suspect, who is being investigated for the death of more than 40 persons? What is the involvement of Commissioner of Police Zakari Biu in the whole matter? What sense can be made of the handling of the mater by the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim? Has the IGP displayed the required professionalism in handling high profile security issues in recent times? Why is Ringim’s personal security coming under constant threat? What did the police interrogators of Kabiru Sokoto do immediately he was handed over to them? How much of information was gathered from him when he was under interrogation in police custody? Why he was not declared wanted immediately he slipped off the hands of policemen? What is the role of Biu, a veteran bomb blast investigator, whose fame became notorious during the General Sani Abacha regime? Indeed, the big question the committee should ask is how Biu found his way back into the police after he was retired by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo?

The questions remain as critical and germane if the committee is to make any headway in this potentially dangerous assignment. If the committee is able to go far with the task at hand, devoid of sentiments and alibis, it should be doing the nation a whole lot of good, such that the continuous sloppy investigations of prime suspects would become a thing of the past.

The entire Nigerian system is replete with uncompleted investigations, even into high profile murder cases. Only recently, loyalists of the former Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige, marked a decade of his gruesome murder in his Ibadan home. The police is yet to find the killers, after it took the nation on some window-dressing trials that left the courts with no other choice than to dismiss the case against those charged. The court declared that those charged by the police had nothing to do with the case, while also chiding the police for sloppy investigation of the murder. There is also the case of the murder of Pa Alfred Rewane, Kudirat Abiola, the attempted murder of the late Pa Abraham Adesanya and the late Felix Ibru and many others.  The police are yet to furnish the nation with concrete evidence to believe that the perpetrators of such acts and the victims have found justice.

But the Police Affairs Committee cannot just restrict its focus to the search for Kabiru Sokoto as far as the current assignment is concerned. The committee needs to tell Nigerians that it is ready to assume its position of relevance as far as working for the survival of Nigeria remains the issue. Its silence over the years on the plight of police formations is fast assuming a frightening dimension. Though funds are yearly allocated to police commands and formations in the national budget, every caller to the police stations is usually confronted by the appalling conditions of the offices and stations.  

If the committee is ready to launch itself to relevance with the Kabiru Sokoto matter, so be it, but it must be ready to redeem the uninspiring image of the force in the eyes of every Nigerian. If it has been shirking its responsibilities in the past, the charge by Senator David Mark in his remarks on Senator Igwe’s motion last week should sound a death knell on such dereliction of duty.