Recent Police Retirement/Retrenchment Exercise: Prince Bob Njemanze Urges President Tinubu To Intervene Now

By Chinedu Max Egere…

A public affairs analyst, Prince Bob Njemanze has urged President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, intervene in the recent police retirement and retrenchment exercise which has sparked controversies, to save the nation from embarrassment in line with respect to the rule of law.

Prince Bob Njemanze stated this in Owerri at the weekend saying that the recent and ongoing mass retirement of the whole generation of seasoned Officers of the Nigeria Police force after rising from the first extraordinary meeting of the 6th management Board of the Police Service Commission (PSC) on the regularization of the first appointment of cadet Assistant Superintendents and Inspectors who are called Force Entrants based on alleged breach of the civil service or attainment of 60 years of age is to say the least, smokescreen as the real underlying reason is bigotry and promotion of the agenda of the current chairman of PSC, DIG Hashimu Argungu(rtd).

As background, according to him, the public has right to know that the officers who are today maligned, vilified and compulsorily retired are those of cadet ASP courses 18/1994; 19/1996; 20/2000 and 21/2002 as well as cadet Inspector courses, 33/1994; 34/1996; 35/2000; 36/2002 and that these categories of officers were recruited for the cadet scheme of the Police from within the service of the Police force having attained higher education qualifications as encouraged by the erstwhile police administrators like the late IGP Etim Okon Inyang.

Prince Njemanze said that the officers have first and higher degrees as well as school certificates with six credits including Mathematics and English language which till date is even above the minimum requirement for University admission.

Prince Bob Njemanze further said that “additionally they were all carefully selected by a special Board based on federal character to cut across the states of the federation and to be between the age of brackets of 25 and 28 years for ASPs and 20-25 years for Inspectors”.

Prince Njemanze revealed that during the selection interview, most states of the North did not have qualified candidates within the services and so for equal representation of component parts of the country, the same number was recruited either from within or outside the service.

He went further stating that after the screening that took place in the three different levels of the states, zones and national held simultaneously in Abuja for the Northern states and Lagos for the Southern states, the successful cadets were issued letters of appointments and trained afresh for a period of 18 and extra months with no in-service course in the civil service of such duration.

Prince Njemanze said that the ‘Force Entrants’ had their hitherto monthly salaries stopped and were brought to the level of cadets on training allowances for the period the course lasted and that the financial records are there to buttress this as the offer they got it was reiterated, were fresh and new appointments.

He said that the officers who are now maligned and called cheats excelled in training and progressed distinguishing themselves earning commendations and even special promotions.

He adduced this to the reasons why some of them have risen to the level of Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police.

Hear him: ” It is the jostling for the coveted office of the IGP and posting to choice commands that has brought about the fanthom retirement of those senior officers who are about  95% from the South and about 1% from the North Central and that it is a fact that cannot be faulted as it speaks for itself”

Prince Njemanze also revealed that the public has not been informed that the National Industrial Court had in suit numbers NICN/ABJ/345/2019 and NICN/ABJ/353/2019 given judgments in the same matter which has not been appealed against by the police or from any quarter.

He said that reminiscent of what had transpired during the era of Abrahim Coomasi, former IGP, when some of the Police officers from the South West and South East were hounded out for what was purported to be their royalty to the immediate past Inspector-General of Police are being reenacted years after.

The fiery public affairs analyst expressed surprise that the senators and the state governors are yet to raise their voices against such anomalies in the system which makes one to ask “where lies the equity in the so called Federal Character?” and therefore he is seeking President Tinubu to immediately intervene in the matter to restore the dignity of the country.

It should be recalled that the same Prince Bob Njemanze during the national conference in the past had called for the effective funding and equipping of the police to achieve successful national security in the country.