A Security expert , Mark Okolie has faulted the redeployment of Commissioner of Police Edgal Imohimi from Ogun to Akwa Ibom State few weeks after he resumed duty .
Okolie who was miffed with the way governors have overwhelming influence on the police high command on who and who would be posted to their states ,said it was not good for the image of the Force .
Edagal was replaced with his counterparts in Akwa Ibom State ,CP Kenneth Ebirison .
Okolie ,a security analyst said :” The redeployment of Edgal is political . We understand that the government of Ogun State did not want him because he investigated some mysterious deaths of some young men and unraveled that they died out of excessive intake of drugs .
A son of a prominent government official was among those who died . I don’t know what they expected Edgal to say . Did they expect Edgal to lie ? The way the government and politicians determine who should be posted to their States in security matters is not good for the fight against crime and criminality . It is also a pointer that the Federal Government is not properly funding the Police .
The police rely on the support of the State governors for logistics . We cannot blame the Inspector – General of Police for redeploying Edgal to Akwa Ibom under the request of the governor .The IGP with his infinite wisdom would want to succeed and would not want citizens to suffer as the government may stop supporting the police .
” The combination of Edgal and that of Lagos State Commissioner of Police CP Hakeem Odumosu ,would have made Zone 2 Command comprising Ogun and Lagos States, the best zone in Nigeria . Odumosu and Edgal ,are no nonsense officers who are experienced and good in operations .They know the terrains in and out and would have formed a common force to give criminals in the two states a fight for their guns .
“The newly deployed Assistant Inspector- General of Police in charge of Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos, AIG Ahmed Iliyasu, had boasted that the zone would witness robust crime control as he had two seasoned Commissioners of police , Odumosu and Imohimi . He read the riot act to hoodlums to steer clear of Lagos and Ogun States or risk the wrath of Odumosu and However, Okolie praised the IGP for exchanging Edgal with another seasoned officer, Kenneth Eberison, who he also described as :” Dogged and reliable ,whose crime fighting strategy will match the standard of Edgal and Odumosu. Eberison is also good ,but what would have happened if the IGP had not used his wisdom to bring someone like Eberison to Ogun ? The IGP really means well for Lagos and Ogun States with the crops of Commissioners of police he sent to the States . Well , he still gave Edgal a good posting .Akwa Ibom people will enjoy the wealth of experience of Edgal, but he would have done better in Ogun state ,because he knows the terrain very well.
” I want to call on the FG to start funding the police and stop paying lips service to the issue of security so that the State governors will stop having overwhelming influence on the commissioners of police that will be sent to their States . The IGP knows who is who in the Force and knows where and where to post officers. But because of the fear of abandoning the police by the governors, the IGP will always succumb to the will of governors. Let FG start funding the police “.
