IGP Usman Alkali Baba
By Lawal Jet Kaugama
On 6 April 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Baba Usman Alkali to replace Mohammed Adamu who retired from Nigeria Police Forcen in February 2021. As soon he assumed office, citizens became awareh that Buhari had indeed put a round peg on a round hole.
Until his appointment as the IG of Police, he was a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department, force headquarters.
Going by the previous offices he had held, Nigerians were not doubtful of the new police chief’s capability to ensure their security.
On assuming office, the security-conscious police chief, hit ther gound running by suspending the use of tinted glasses on vehicles which criminals take advantage of to carry out their nefarious activities while in vehicles, or used by criminals who hide their identities from law enforcement agents.
In order for officers to complement his efforts, IGP Alkali warned police Personnel not to compromise their integrity for selfish interests, adding that one of the easiest ways to cultivate and sustain public support is for officers to ensure they do not squander the people’s goodwill.
“If you show that you are for the people, the people too will be there for you. And so long as you don’t mortgage your PR, you will have no cause to sacrifice your integrity,” Alkali said this in Lagos at a public function.
Before his appointment there were echoes of war in the southeast. The situation was so bad that police officers went about their lawful duties hiding in mufti for fear of being mobbed and lynched.
Officers were also restricted in areas of operation as a result of attacks from gunmen who invaded police stations and set them on fire, killed and maimed officers and men.
Alkali obtained a pass mark from his first baptism of fire at the police headquarters in Imo state where the hoodlums had attacked the nearby correctional centre, released incarcerated criminals and set the place on fire, then invaded the nearby Police Command and unleashed mayhem there.
Alkali’s logistics and tactics were able to check those criminals who had not even spare the state governor, Uzodinma’s property.
Also upon his assumption of duties, Alkali took the bull by the horn by effecting changes in the leadership of the Force in southeast with the view to strengthening their workforce and putting a permanent stop to the horrific stories of violence and killings.
Alkali, the 21st indigenous Inspector General of Police is a fellow of the National Defence College and hails from Geidam in Yobe state.
This astute crime-fighter and versatile manager of men and resources, has held several strategic positions in the past cutting across all the segments of the force, therefore, he has run the gamut of security operations.
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Before Alkali’s appointment as IGP, Kaduna-Abuja Highway was a no-go-area for travellers, as the highway became the den of bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements of the society. Passengers and cmmuters travelling on the road were not sure of their security and safety until they reached their destinations.
But under the chief crime fighter, normalcy was restored to the notorious Abuja-Kaduna highway. The order given by President Mhammadu Buhari to security men to deal mercilessly with highway criminals across the country had really paid off.
Prior to the presidential order and Alkali’s proactive measures, bandits had operated along the Abuja-Kaduna highway for four consecutive days where they abducted an unspecified number of tavellers on the highway, unchallenged.
Following the presidential order, the Nigeria Police Force in collaboration with other security agencies, recorded a breakthrough as many bandits, including the notorious bandit terrorising Kaduna-Abuja highway, Yellow Magaji Arusa were neutralised.
IGP Alkali assured that the Nigeria Police under him work very hard using new strategies to end the current insecurity in the country. And as a man of professional and personal integrity, he kept his words.
Speaking in an interview in one of the Nigerian dailies, Alkali said Nigerians should be patient with the police as the force under him confronts frontally kidnappers and bandits in the country.
“We have mapped out strategies and we will ensure that the bad situation gradually comes to an end. I have a good vision and mission for the Nigeria Police. I want to rebrand the force and bring back the peoples’ confidence. We want the entire public to have confidence in the police. The Nigeria Police is ready any day anytime; they are ready to curtail crime and criminality in their environs.
“We will train and retrain police officers to be fit and be able to combat crime. I have warned police officers against corruption an extxtra-judicial killing. I have urged them to respect human rights and the Police Act,” Alkali said.
To accomplish his mission, he called on traditional rulers andlerics to rise up and assist the general public to talk to the youth on1 the evils of violence in their various environments.
Alkali instituted security summits in all geographical areas to enable the police dialogue on the way forward with elder statesmen and traditional rulers in the regions.
He sent out the Tactical Team, IRT Team, Tactical Squad, Mobile men from various squadrons as well as well as IGP Monitoring Unit, and moved them to various police state commands that have little crisis as proactive mission.
“On the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, we have taken over the situation. We have redeployed some police intelligence officers to the road and we are going to ensure constant raids of all the hideouts along the road with the support of the Kaduna State Police Command,” Alkali said.
True to his speech which he had matched with action, security has turned to Kaduna-Abuja highway which was hitherto infested with bandits and kidnappers. Travellers, whether on rail or road, now enjoy their journeys safely to their destinations
Alkali, knowing the importance of police personnel’s welfare, ensured that his first official assignment immediately he was decorated as acting Inspector General of Police was to visit the Nigeria Police Trust Fund and pledged to work very closely towards the actualisation of the Trust Fund’s vision.
“My visit to the Nigeria Police Trust Fund should not be taken for granted. This visit underscores the importance of the Nigeria Policer Trust Fund’s much needed intervention for the Nigeria Police Force and administration’s commitment to the mandate of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund. I promise to work assiduously to deliver on the fund’s mandate to the Nigeria Police.”
With his wealth of experience and the management team he has sembled, Alkali will not disappoint his compatriots.
“I will never disappoint Nigerians. I will justify the confidence reposed in me by the president by living up to expectations,” IGP
Alkali had promised, and by his pedigree, Nigerians believe in his capability to rid all parts of the country of criminals and criminal elements.
Lawal Jet Kaugama writes from Dutse, Jigawa state