Police Officers From Southern States Protest Deployment To Borno, Bauchi!

Police officers from the southern part of the country have protested their transfer to what they called, Boko Haram states, especially, Borno and Bauchi. Already, 84 of them, including a female officer who is nursing a baby and whose husband lives in Lagos, have been transferred to Borno. Daily Sun gathered exclusively that the list for Bauchi is being compiled.

The development has created tension, disaffection among police officers, as there are plans to also transfer senior police officers from the same part of the country and are currently living in quarters belonging to the Police College, to the two volatile states.

Daily Sun checks also revealed that those affected by the transfer were police officers from the Lagos State Command living in the Police College compound, inside and outside Police College compound but under the Lagos State command, attached to the airport, seaport, air wing, Force Headquarters Annex, Obalende, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), those in the Mobile Police Unit, printing press at Zone 2, Onikan and bomb disposal unit.

Some of the officers, who confirmed the transfer to Daily Sun alleged that the Commandant of the Police College, Lagos, Abdullahi Magaji, a commissioner of police, might have used his relationship with the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, to hurriedly eject the policemen as efforts to eject them in the past failed.

Some of the officers who spoke to Daily Sun on the condition of anonymity, wondered why they should be punished by sending them to the Boko Haram states, because they live in quarters owned by the Police College.
"Is it an offence to live in quarters belonging to the Police College? Is it not the same Nigeria police? Why are we being punished? Some of us have been allocated houses outside but we couldn't move because people are still living in those houses. Are we going to force them out?"

The senior police officers, who said it was usually the responsibility of the Police Service Commission (PSC) to transfer them, appealed to the commission to intervene. They also appealed to the state Commissioner, Yakubu Alkali to wade into the matter.
"We don't deserve this. This is punishment. What offence did we commit? They want to use our transfer to Boko Haram states as a method of ejecting us and for us to be killed there. We don't understand Hausa language."
The letter used in communicating the transfer of the 84 officers is dated August 10, 2011, with reference number CH:5350/WEL.FHQABJ/T/17.

The letter, which was supposed to be signed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in-charge of 'A' Department, Mr. Azubuko Udah, was signed on his behalf and Ringim, by K.C. Katso, a police commissioner attached to Welfare Department before he (Udah) could come back from overseas trip.

Source: The Sun News