THE Minister of Interior, Lieutenant Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau has revealed that the frosty relationship between the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris did not augur well for the growth and development of the police as an institution.
Dambazau has however, assured the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Abubakar Adamu of maximum support to succeed in his new assignment of providing internal security, safety of lives and property in the country.
He spoke on Tuesday in Abuja when the Acting IGP led the management team of the Nigeria Police Force on courtesy visit to the Minister, where Adamu agreed to mend fences with the parent Ministry in order not to miss out in the scheme of things.
The Minister said he was appreciative of the courtesy visit considering the significance of the Ministry in providing internal security and public safety in Nigeria, which police are a key agency.
He said: “We are happy you took these steps because when I came in here in 2015, our relationship with the then Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase was cordial. But when Arase left, there was the severance of relationship between the police and Ministry of Interior.”
Dambazau, noted that most of the dealings between the Ministry and police were handled by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of operations, saying he did everything possible regardless of that to see that the police do not suffer as an institution.
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He lamented that because of this frosty relationship, the Ministry could not provide the needed support to the police in terms of policy direction and representation at the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“We are glad that you came with absolutely different ideas. In the last three years, we presented more than 25 Memos to the Federal Executive Council that had to do with policies, intake, and so on, but none of those memoranda that went to FEC included the police.
He said that was the kind of thing that should be avoided because the police need the parent Ministry in order to be able to effectively tackle the current internal security challenges.
The Minister said: “We need to work together particularly with the kind of internal security challenges we are experiencing in this country,” adding that while the Ministry gives policy direction, implementation is strictly the mandate of the agencies which the Ministry would not interfere.
The Acting Inspector-General of Police, earlier in his remark, admitted the the lack lustre relationship between the police and the Ministry, saying the police have retraced their steps.
Adamu said: “We are aware that all policy issues concerning police operations come from the Ministry of Interior and we don’t want to be left out.
“We want to be deeply involved in the activities of the Ministry. We want the Minister to know that we are 100% ready to participate in every activity of the Ministry that involves security,” he said.
He acknowledged that the country is currently going through security challenges that could be surmounted and overcome with the needed support of the parent Ministry.
He said: “In the past we were not participating in the activities of the Ministry the way we should but now we have retraced our steps. We have come back to do the needful for the benefit of the country.”
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