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Nigeria: Police chief and deputies replaced
Nigeria President., Goodluck Jonathan. PHOTO/File
(Reuters) – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has fired the national chief of police and his six deputies, the presidency said on Wednesday, a week after the main suspect in a Christmas Day bomb attack escaped from police custody.
Jonathan has been heavily criticized for not getting a grip on near daily violence carried out by Islamist sect Boko Haram, and his opponents have been calling for a shake-up in the security services.
Boko Haram killed more than 500 people last year and more than 250 in the first weeks of 2012 in gun and bomb attacks. Jonathan has said members of the sect have infiltrated the security services and all areas of government.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Mr. Mohammed Abubakar as Acting Inspector General of Police as a first step towards the comprehensive reorganization and repositioning of the Nigeria Police Force,” a presidency statement said.
“Mr. Abubakar who is currently an Assistant Inspector General of Police replaces Mr. Hafiz Ringim who proceeds on terminal leave with effect from today.”
Abubaker, 53, has been in the police since 1979. Like Ringim, he is a Muslim from the north of Africa’s most populous nation, where Boko Haram’s violence has mostly been carried out. Jonathan is a Christian from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta.
All six of Ringim’s deputy inspectors had been approved for immediate retirement and a committee has been set-up to oversee the reorganization of the police, the statement said.
