Ex-IGP Arase cautions IG Idris not to ridicule or demean predecessors

Mr. Solomon Arase, the immediate past Inspector-General (IG) of Police, has cautioned his successor, Mr Ibrahim Idris, not to engage in acts that could demean his predecessors and bring the office of the IG to public ridicule.

This was even as he disclosed that his predecessors took away 22 police vehicles while leaving office but that he did nothing just to make sure he did not bring the office into ridicule.

Arase’s advice was contained in a letter he addressed to Idris and dated December 1, 2016, pointing out that it was for inviolability of the office of the IG that made him ensure while in office that Force Order 295 was put in place to protect ex-IGs from being demeaned.

“I expect that former occupants of the office of the Inspector-General of Police should not be demeaned. This explains why Force Order 295 was emplaced by the force management under my leadership as acknowledged in your letter in reference.

“In spite of the emplacement of this order and despite the fact that my two immediate predecessors left office with 13 and nine vehicles of different makes and models respectively, I never pressurised either of them to return any of such vehicles neither did I engage in any act that was capable of bringing them to ridicule as being done to me of late by a force I dedicated my life to serving up to the highest level.

“Rather, it is on record that I went the extra mile to source for funds and initiated actions towards purchasing a brand new bulletproof jeep for my immediate predecessor, even after his retirement from service. This was done notwithstanding the fact that I inherited and had to manage a huge debt profile of about N28bn, which limited the financial base of the force at the time,” part of the letter reads.

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Arase retired as police IG in June and the two former IGs before him were Mohammed Abubakar, who retired in 2014 and Suleiman Abba, who former President Goodluck Jonathan sacked in April last year.

Arase wrote his letter in reply to allegations by Idris that he left with 24 police vehicles when he retired in June as the IG.

Arase had earlier dismissed his successors claims and wondered what he would do with such number of vehicles.

He therefore advised, Idris to ensure that the integrity and honour of the Nigeria Police Force is placed first in any action he might want to take in order not to bring the force to negative public discourse.

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