By Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande
Since the appointment of MD Abubakar as the Acting Inspector General of police, two issues regarding his suitability for the job have cropped up. One is the issue of competence, and the second is whether given his so called indictment by a commission of inquiry set up by the Plateau State government in 2001, the new Acting IGP will be fair to all in the discharge of his duties.
Gladly, most of those that bother to touch on the issue of professional competence expressed no fear about his capability but have even gone ahead give testimony about Abubakar’s acumen in dealing with crime and his expertise in “operations” which basically is at the heart of the police force.
An officer per excellence, MD Abubakar has given a good account of himself whenever or wherever he was called upon to serve. It is on record that in all the places he served including Plateau state, he brought the crime rate to zero as his mantra was that all criminals would have no hiding place with him as Commissioner.
It is on record that he gave a good account of himself while at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport where he was known as a no nonsense officer who is not given to gratifications and became the scourge of drug traffickers who had before his coming, turned Nigeria to the hub of trade in hard drugs.
The only area where the Plateau State Government and his hatchet backers have expressed fear, remains the so called indictment by the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Plateau State Government which recommended that he should retire on account of what it perceived as the role Abubakar played while serving as Commissioner of Police during the 2001 Jos crisis.
But it wouldn’t surprise anyone that some persons would latch onto the Report as their only basis for indicting the officer because in actual fact, that was indeed part of the reasons the Commission of Inquiry was set up, to indict certain persons whose presence in the state, it is perceived by the state government as not serving its parochial interest.
The continuous reference to that clause only buttress this fact, that there exists no other platform to pin any charge on the officer other than the one set up to formalize a predetermined course of action as MD Abubakar has served in several other places with different religious background from his and has never been accused of anything similar or akin to that.
For a Commission of Inquiry that was inaugurated on the 18th of October 2001 shortly after the 2001 Jos crisis and which concluded sitting in May 2002, no White Paper was issued on its recommendations even by the same government which set it up.
It was not until 2009, following allegations both locally and internationally of sponsoring the 2008 Jos crisis, in which about 800 Muslims were killed that the present Governor of Plateau state, Jonah Jang, quickly issued a White Paper on the Report as way of exonerating himself from the allegations, by showing that his predecessors have also accused the same persons, he was then accusing of being the sponsors of the crisis.
That was before he set up the Prince Bola Ajibola Commission of Inquiry to absolve him of any complicity in the crisis and which in its final report submitted to the state government also did a wonderful job of exonerating the Governor.
To the discerning, two things may have been responsible for the reluctance on the part of the preceding government not to issue a white paper on the recommendation.
The first is that the initial anger, which justified roping up all the people on the other side, which the then governor, Chief Joshua Dariye openly called “settlers” and asked them to leave, must have died down, as every anger inspired by emotion normally does and the urge to punish people based on mere sentiment must have plummeted.
Secondly, it could be because the government itself does not believe in the recommendation of the commission, which must have overreached itself in the process of trying to please it, hence kept the document in the drawer.
Thirdly, the Niki Tobi Report owing to its long stay has lost contemporary relevance and is in fact subjudice before the law courts.
Otherwise how could one explain why a matter like that would be left hanging for seven years, outliving two administrations and had to take a crisis that evoked similar sentiments for a third successive administration, which hatred for a particular ethnic group in the state has remained open to issue a White Paper on it.
But looking at the so called indictment itself what does one make of it?
It says MD Abubakar as Commissioner of Police during the crisis, did not prevent the burning of places of worship during the 2001 crisis.
It also said that some officers of the force were transferred before Jos erupted in crisis.
But Abubakar had given sufficient answers to all these issues when he told the Commission that security men were posted to all worship centers, meaning like we all know that their failure to prevent a breakdown of law and order cannot be linked to him. On the posting of Police Officers, he explained that they were routine practices in the force.
Since Abubakar left, other Police Commissioners like Samson Wuda and Greg Ayatin, both Christians serving at various times of crises in the state, have experienced the burning of Mosques and churches under them, and the Plateau Sate Government did not accuse them and this is inspite of the nefarious roles each of them played. For example, Mr. Greg Ayatin in a press conference stated that “Muslim youths attacked a Catholic church” which turned out to be false while Samson Wudah implemented a shoot at sight order from the Governor killing 800 Hausa persons over the Jos North Local Government election in 2008.
Since Abubakar left Plateau state, no commissioner has been able to match his record in terms of operations and administrative skills as he was the one that gave the Plateau state police command a befitting office, and equipped it with modern facilities and gadgets that are today being used by successive police commissioners in the state.
He it was who introduced the weekly briefing by the force to keep the populace abreast with what the force is doing or must have done to ensure it bring down the rate of crime in the state - a tradition that has been copied by successive administrations in the state, but has never matched his own in terms of efficiency.
At a time when we should all rally to support President Goodluck Jonathan given the tense security challenges the country is facing, it is an anathema for the Plateau State Government to start this campaign of calumny capable of distracting and derailing the good intentions of Mr. President in this regard.
Otherwise how do you justify the likes of Hon. Bitrus Kaze and other officials of Plateau State Government including unfortunately the Christian Association of Nigeria in the FCT and Kaduna states disparaging the decision of the President in matters of state policy and National Security.
In conclusion, it is obvious that the job that Abubakar has been called to do is purely a professional one and has never been found wanting in that regard. The bid by some people to mar his professional image is merely a reflection of their antagonism and bigotry for certain kinds of people in this country, no matter their abilities, and this should not be condoned.
Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande is a former Minister of Information & Communications writes from Jos, Plateau state.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
