THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has a new Police Commissioner, spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, has announced.
The new commissioner, Sadiq Idris Abubakar, assumed duty on Friday, December 23.
He is the 29th police commissioner in the FCT. Sadiq took over from Babaji Sunday, who has been redeployed to “another area of assignment”.
While giving assurance of improved public safety and security, the new FCT police chief, Abubakar, warned criminals to steer clear of the nation’s capital.
The ICIR reports that the commissioner takes over the leadership of the Police Command weeks after many Western countries warned of a possible attack on the city by insurgents. Though the predictions never came to pass, the warning still resonates with many residents who had previously witnessed attacks on the city.
Though the security forces have succeeded in neutralizing members of the belligerent groups threatening the peace in the city and its neighbouring states of Kogi, Niger and Kaduna in recent times, the city’s neighbours continue to record pockets of attacks, including abductions for ransoms and killings.
The ICIR reports that concerns over insecurity in Abuja have heightened since members of the Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) blew up the Kuje medium correctional facility on July 5, freeing all 64 suspected terrorists and over 800 other inmates.
The gunmen also ambushed the Presidential Guards Brigade in the Bwari area of the nation’s capital days later, mauling nearly a dozen officers.
On the 29th of that month, the terrorist group shot sporadically at a military checkpoint in Suleja, near Abuja. The military’s superior firepower put the assailants in disarray.
Before the recent attacks, Boko Haram had struck the United Nations Building in Abuja on August 27, 2011. There was another barrage by the group at the Police Headquarters on July 16, 2012.
Though the fear of insurgent attacks has subsided in the city, armed robbers, car thieves, burglars, ‘one chance operators’ and other criminals have continued to unleash mayhem on residents.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) demolished the Durumi Internally Displaced Persons’ Camp on Wednesday, blaming the action on increasing crime in the area.
The demolished camp was one of several sprawling settlements that have fallen under the wheels of bulldozers in the nation’s capital in recent months, in what the government usually refers to as its effort to sanitize the city.
About the new commissioner
The new police commissioner is a member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru-Jos, holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and a Masters of Education in Educational Psychology, both from the University of Abuja. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Education (BSc.Ed) degree in Geography from Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto.
Abubakar enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in 1992 as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police and has since served the Force and the country in diverse capacities. These include; Commanding Officer 15 Squadron Police Mobile Force (PMF) Ilorin, Kwara State; Chief of Training, Directorate of Peacekeeping Operations, FHQ, Abuja; Police Contingent Commander to Guinea Bissau, ECOWAS Standby Force; and Commandant, PMF Training College Ila-Orangun, Osun State. He was the Commissioner of Police Peacekeeping Operations and Coordinator of Police Special Forces before his nomination for the Senior Executive Course at the National Institute between February and December 2022.
He has attended many courses, seminars, conferences and workshops both within and outside Nigeria. Some of these include the Advance Detective Course, Police Staff College Jos; PMF Commanders’ Combat Course, PMF training College, Ila-Orangun Osun State; Basic Infantry Tactics for Counter-Terrorism, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna; ECOWAS Standby Force Map Exercise, Kofi Anan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Accra Ghana; United Nations (UN) Special Police Assessment Team (SPAT) Workshop, Amman, Jordan; Senior Management Course, KAIPTC, Accra Ghana; ECOWAS Workshop on Special Force Doctrine and Structure; UN Chief of Police Summit, New York, amongst others.
While thanking the Inspector General of Police for the confidence reposed on him to serve in this capacity, the Commissioner of Police assured the residents of the FCT of a new dispensation of professional policing and improved public safety and security. He equally warned criminal elements in the FCT to steer clear and commit to legitimate ventures, stressing the resolve of the Command under his watch to make the city uncomfortable for crimes and criminality.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].