President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a major reorganization of the Nigerian Police Force, establishing a full-service intelligence unit split off from the Force Criminal Investigation Department and five new zonal commands, among other structural changes.
“Mr President approved that the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) be excised from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) to be a full-fledged Department to be headed by a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG),” read a May 27 police circular, signed by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
Although the president may give anticipatory approval as chairman of the police council that includes 36 state governors, he needs to call a council meeting to ratify the reorganization.
This restructuring, Mr Adamu said, is planned to completely integrate “intelligence-led policing strategy into the Community Policing initiative in addressing the threats that the dynamics of crimes pose.”
The police force currently has eight divisions, including a separate, autonomous intelligence branch.
Mr. Buhari also approved the decentralization of the FCID in line with the Community Policing Program, with two new additional annex offices in Enugu and Gombe, respectively, for criminal cases originating from the South-South and South-East zones and the North-East region, Mr. Adamu said.
In addition to the current FCID annexes in Kaduna and Lagos, the department now has four annexes, each headed by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police operations, according to the circular, to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police heading the FCID at the Abuja headquarters.
New zonal commands
In a further restructuring, the police are having five new zonal commands.
- Ondo and Ekiti states are coming under new zonal command headquartered in Akure
- Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra states under new zonal command headquartered in Ukpo-Dunokofia.
- Bayelsa and River states under new zonal command headquartered in Yenagoa.
- Yobe and Borno states under new zonal command headquartered in Maiduguri.
- Katsina and Kaduna states under new zonal command headquartered in Katsina.
The memo does not include the composition numbers of the new zonal commands, but its developments mean that the current ones are decentralized.
In addition, each of the Ikeja, Maiduguri, Kaduna and Orji-River police colleges is to be headed by an AIG commandant.
“This will strengthen administration, enhance the commitment of staff, and engender higher discipline and the quality of training at the colleges,’’Mr Adamu said.
He said the approvals were granted by Mr Buhari “in furtherance to the need to expand and strengthen the Intelligence Department towards driving the intelligence-led policing strategy of the Force leadership and to aid in the enrichment of the Community Policing practice as approved by the Federal Government.”