FOLLOWING the retirement of former Inspector General of Police, Mr Hafiz Ringim and the appointment by the Presidency of Mr Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar as the acting Inspector General of Police, the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayodele Oritsejafor, has faulted the appointment, claiming that the Justice Niki Tobi panel report on Jos crisis indicted Abubakar.

Oritsejafor made this stand known during an interaction with Tribune church, stating that since the appointment of the acting IGP, Christian leaders and stakeholders had been calling him to register their fears.  ‘I don’t believe that the appointment of the new acting Inspector General of Police, MD Abubakar, will help in the fight of Boko Haram. I have a problem.

As the leader of all the Christians in Nigeria, my phone has not stopped ringing since yesterday. Christians across this country, from the North to the South, are complaining. The reason is because they are telling me, and I’ve checked and it is true, that the Niki Tobi panel indicted him over the Jos crisis of 2001 as one of those who created that whole scenario of problem,’’ he said.

The Christian boss stated that the recommendation of the panel had insisted on the retirement or sack of Abubakar. For Pastor Oritsejafor, allowing a biased member of the top echelon of the police hierarchy wage war against the dreaded Boko Haram would not augur well for the country. According to him, ‘’the panel recommended that he should either retire on his own and if he refuses to retire, he should be sacked. This was their recommendation. Niki Tobi said that such fanatic should not be made to be at the top of the police hierarchy. The issue now is how do you make a man like this an IGP? As far as more than half of this country is concerned, Abubakar is already biased. He has already taken sides. You cannot use a problem to solve a problem. Christians and well meaning Nigerians are troubled. I am worried personally.’’

While stressing that he had no personal grievance against the acting IGP, he however called on the President to have rethink and make another appointment. ‘’I will advise strongly that Mr President should think again and look for somebody else, not this man at all. I don’t know him personally. I have nothing against him. It is not somebody that we can be proud of around the world that our IGP is a man that was indicted for the same problem that he has been brought in to solve. How do you do that? That is totally wrong,’’ Oritsejafor cautioned.