Police pull-out 14 senior officers

By Christopher Oji

The Nigeria Police Force, yesterday, retired 14 senior officers who were pulled out of the Force at Police College, Ikeja, Lagos.

The officers, including Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) Johnson Kokumo, who retired after 35 years in service, were course mates to the current Inspector-General of police, Mr. Usman Baba, whose tenure was extended by the Presidency.

The officers were the last set of the first graduate police officers from the Nigeria Police Academy (POLAC), Wudil, Kano (POLAC Course 1/88).

The POLAC pioneers, who participated in the pull-out parade were AIG Isaac Akinmoyede, AIG Olatunji Akingbola, AIG Andrew Amengheme, AIG Amaechi Elumelu, and AIG Ngozi Onadeko.

Others are AIG Eboka Friday, AIG Adesina Soyemi, AIG Ashafa Adekunle, AIG Edward Egbuka, AIG Olawale Olokode, AIG Abutu Yaro,  CP Adetokunbo Owolabi, and CP Selem Amachree.

The POLAC pioneers were among 844 Nigeria police officers who had served for 35 years and retired from the force yesterday.

IGP Baba described the retirees as living heroes for retiring meritoriously, adding that their wealth of experience would be highly missed. The IGP, who was represented by DIG Olayinka Adeleke, said the officers exited the service when the nation needed them most.

“Your pull-out from service, today, is coming at a time your experiences are needed for the growth and development of the nation. The force wises you good luck in your future endeavours,” he said.

One of the retirees, DIG Kokumo, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, gave thanks to God for keeping them throughout the 35 years in service.

Kokumo noted that 198 of them were admitted into the institution to be trained as police officers, stressing that 178 of them completed the training, while 15 of them served up to 35 years in service. He said some of their course mates retired before their full time, while some died prematurely.

DIG commended their spouses, family members and other colleagues still in service for their support and collaboration to make their service year hitch free. Kokomo said the work of an average police officer was tedious.

“We would leave for work, but won’t know when to come back. We may be in Lagos today, but will be transferred to Kaduna tomorrow. Some went out and died on active service. That is why we thank our spouses and children who got used to our lifestyles. We appreciate our wives and husbands.”