A civil rights organisation, the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has called on relevant authorities to institute a thorough probe into academic credentials of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Kpotun Idris, over his recent speech gaffe in Kano, This is coming just as the group in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday also flayed the reports of a Committee set up by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Tukur Buratai dismissing the allegations of a former Minister of Defence, Lt.-General Theophilous Yakubu Danjuma (rtd.) on alleged bias by the military in series of security crisis rocking Taraba State.

In the statement issued by the Executive Chairman of CHRSJ, Comrade Adeniyi, the group called on both the National Assembly and the Nigerian Police Council (NPC) as well as the Nigeria Police Service Commission (PSC) to institute a comprehensive probe into the credentials of the police boss, saying the gaffe committed by Idris during a tour of duty to the Kano State Command of the Force was a national embarrassment.

While appraising the incident that took place last week Monday, May 14, 2018 when the police boss was in the commercial city of Kano to commission the Force Technical Intelligence Unit, Sulaiman stated that “Looking at the video over and over again, I suspect that we have a case of ‘Toronto and Chicago’ certificate scandal on our hands. “We are calling on relevant authorities to commence probe into the credentials of Mr. Idris who on Monday last week brought an embarrassment not only to the police force, which he heads but also to the country as a whole. The video which went viral has been seen across the world and as citizens of Nigeria, we are concerned that Idris rose beyond his competence to become the IGP and we demand a full, unbiased and comprehensive probe into his credentials.

“You will recollect that our group recently called for his removal owing to his activities in office, which do not suggest to us as someone who is fit and capable enough to hold that exalted office, we hasten to state therefore that his gaffe in Kano has further vindicated our position regarding his suitability for the job. Simply put, the current IGP (as we have always stated before) is grossly and acutely incompetent.” He said in the statement made available to newsmen.

CHRSJ also commended the efforts of the reporter with Liberty Television, Mr. Aminu Nurudeen for his patriotic act in line with Sections (22) and (39) of the ‘FRN’ (1999) Constitution (as amended), saying he has demonstrated an act of uncommon bravery and that nothing untoward must happen to him and that Idris and the force would be liable should any form of infractions comes his way.

On the recently released report of the 10-man committee instituted by Buratai, Sulaiman on behalf of the group faulted an attempt by the army top hierarchy to rubbish the reputation of the Taraba State born ex-general, saying the Committee was hurriedly put together as an afterthought to achieve some aims that are not nationalistic and altruistic as it was put in place to serve the interest of the authorities that constituted it.

The Committee led by Major General Joseph Nimmyel (rtd) had been put in place to probe the allegations of bias levelled against the army by Danjuma, on March 24 at the convocation of Taraba State University in Jalingo. Addressing graduating students, parents and guests at the occasion, Danjuma had said that the armed forces personnel operating in Taraba and other states of the northeast have been colluding with killers and marauding herdsmen and did not protect the people against their attackers.

Reacting to the report, Sulaiman stated that the army should address the issues raised by the former military general saying, “Everyone knows that Danjuma is not a flippant personality. He is very taciturn and not given to frivolous talk, so he is someone who talks when he feels he should talk. I think we should listen to him when he ventures to talk.”

To the group, the army has not addressed the issues raised; rather what the top hierarchy have done is to try to cover the facts through the probe panel, adding “How do you see a situation whereby the proceedings of the panel had not been made open to the public for all to see. Efforts should have been made to make the retired general state his own position of the story rather than hurriedly concocting an outcome for the committee.”

In concluding, he urged that the army should have been publicizing its operations in all the areas of its operations, saying if that had been done, it would have been easy for its position on the issues raised to be seen by the public. “The army in recent times has not been feeding the public with the right information regarding its operations across the country. For instance, the information emanating from the army authorities regarding the several times the leader of Boko Haram sect has been killed has left many including members of the group to become sceptical like General Danjuma,” he noted.

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