800 policemen to IGP: please don’t send us to the north

Those lobbying for change of their transfers are merely wasting their time. The decision stays. They must report at their duty posts or face disciplinary

Some of the 870 policemen, transferred out of Lagos State Police Command last week by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, have refused to accept their transfer in good faith.
Police sources said that most of them have stormed the Force Headquarters, trying to seek godfather senior police officers, like Deputy Inspector Generals of Police to intervene on their behalf. While some of them said they did not want to leave the Lagos State Command, others, it was gathered, would be willing to work anywhere, as long as it is not the northern part of the country.
The policemen were said to have allegedly come with lots of money to “fix the transfers” to their desired posts. Arase was said to be angry with the turn of events. Sources said he had warned officers that anyone implicated in bribe scandal with regards to the transfer exercise, would incur his wrath. He added:
“Those transferred policemen, lobbying for change of their transfers are merely wasting their time. “Is it not the same police duties they are going to perform in their new commands? The decision stays. No going back. “The affected officers must report at their new duty posts when expected or face disciplinary action.”
Also, Arase was also said to have sent a signal to Lagos State Command, insisting that the command should release the affected officers with immediate effect in order for them to report at their new posts. While some of the affected officers ran to DIGs to intervene, others were said to have started making frantic efforts to lobby the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to prevail on Arase to cancel their postings. According to sources, some of the officers also appealed to prominent politicians and traditional leaders in the state to convince Governor Ambode and Arase that such massive transfer would negatively affect the security situation in the “Centre of Excellence”.
It was equally gathered that a good number of the affected officers have formed a thrift to raise money to give representatives of the Force Headquarters to cancel the transfer. Some of the officers were quoted as saying that they would rather prefer to be transferred to Police College Command, Ikeja, Railway Command, Oyingbo, Airport Command, Ikeja and Marine Command, Ikoyi.
A senior officer, who preferred anonymity, described the officers in the lobby scandal as “touts.” An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), moved to the northern part of the country, said that he was worried about leaving his family. But, another police officer, who was not affected in the move, said: “This is police job. They should go and report to their new posts.
“What’s special about Lagos? They are running helter-skelter because they know that if they go to the North, they would start doing proper police work. “Those northern parts are not like Lagos where these officers are so rich that they do daily contributions. “If they go to the North, nobody will give them money. It’s also in areas like North that their deficiencies as police officers will show. Many of them don’t know how to do this police work.”