THE Acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has said he felt like a lion or tiger ready to consume all enemies of Nigeria, including criminals.
Egbetokun stated this in Abuja on Tuesday, June 20, while speaking with State House reporters, shortly after the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, decorated him as the new head of the country’s police.
The ICIR reports that President Bola Tinubu appointed Egbetokun on Monday June 19, alongside other security chiefs comprising the Chiefs of Defence, Air, Naval and Army Staff.
He also appointed the Comptroller-General of Customs, other military formations, and political aides.
The President said the appointments took immediate effect, after sacking the offices’ occupants.
Egbetokun was Tinubu’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) when the President was Lagos State governor in 1999.
The Acting IGP, who attended the brief ceremony of his decoration with his wife, Elizabeth, and some top government functionaries, said, “Now I have just been decorated and I am looking forward to taking over tomorrow morning by 11am.
“I really can’t describe how I feel presently, but if I have to tell you anything, I will tell you that right now, I feel like tiger inside of me ready to chase away all the criminals in Nigeria.
“And some other time, I feel like a lion in me ready to devour all the internal enemies of Nigeria. That’s my feeling right now,” he said.
Egbetokun’s predecessor, Alkali Baba, said he was handing over to a competent hand who would take the Force well beyond where he left it.
Baba said, “It is a stage; you come, you work, and you go. I’m happy I am handing over to somebody I know will carry the mantle of leadership from where I have stopped.
“We grew up on the job. I was his boss at a time, not even when I was IG. He worked under me twice; we’ve been working together and I know how he will go ahead to champion the cause of the police from where I have stopped.”
Dignitaries who attended the event included the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume; and Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State,
The ICIR reports that Egbetokun remains in acting capacity pending when the National Assembly confirms him as the substantive IGP, according to the country’s constitution.
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 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org