politicians
pressure Jonathan, IG …
want soft-landing for him
FEBRUARY 4, 2012 BY NIYI
ODEBODE, FIDELIS SORIWEI
AND ADELANI ADEPEGBA,
ABUJA 153 COMMENTS
Some traditional rulers and
politicians have started
pressurising President
Goodluck Jonathan and the
acting Inspector-General of
Police, Mohammed Abubakar,
over the case of a
Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Zakari Biu.
SATURDAY PUNCH
investigations showed that the
traditional rulers and
politicians had started making
moves to ensure that Biu got a
soft-landing.
It was, however, learnt that the
President, who had resisted the
pressure, insisted on due
process.
The embattled CP, who was in
charge of investigations, it was
learnt, would retire next year.
He was suspended on Jan 18
over the escape of a Boko
Haram suspect, Kabiru Sokoto,
from police custody.
Sokoto was accused of
masterminding the Christmas
Day bombing of St. Theresa’s
Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger
State, where 43 people died.
The suspect escaped on Jan 15
while he was being taken to his
house at Abaji, Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, for a search
by five policemen.
The commissioner of police
investigating the suspect’s
case and the five policemen,
who accompanied him to Abaji,
had been suspended and
arrested.
Former IG Hafiz Ringim was
forced to resign following his
failure to meet up with
Jonathan’s ultimatum to
produce the Boko Haram
suspect.
The President had given the
ex-IG a 24-hour ultimatum to
produce the suspect.
An investigation showed that
some members of Biu’s family
had swung into action to locate
the whereabouts of the police
commissioner.
Some newspapers (The PUNCH
not included) had on Tuesday
reported that family and
friends of the CP did not know
his whereabouts.
According to the reports, the
friends and family members
said they had not set eyes on
Biu and had tried in vain to
trace where he was taken to,
as none of the country’s
security agencies seemed to
know his whereabouts.
The Director, Army Public
Relations, Maj.-Gen. Raphael
Isah, was reported to have said
Biu was not with the Army.
Also, the Deputy Force Public
Relations Officer, Oluyemi
Ajayi, said the officer had long
ceased to be in police custody.
It was learnt that the family
had contacted some traditional
rulers and top politicians to
intervene in Biu’s case.
A top security source told one
of our correspondents that
some traditional rulers and
politicians had in fact
contacted Jonathan and the
acting IG.
The source said the traditional
rulers and politicians preferred
that Biu should be allowed to
resign since he would leave
the police next year.
He stated, “They are
considering a situation where
the police commissioner will
silently be given a soft-landing
by easing him out of the police.
Since he is going next year,
some people are saying he
should be allowed to retire
with all his entitlements.
“They don’t want a situation
where he will lose the 35 years
he has spent in the police.
Their argument is that the man
deserves pity because he lost
his son in the Oct 1, 2010
bomb blast in Abuja.”
But it was learnt that the
moves of the traditional rulers
and politicians were being
resisted by people in the
security agencies.
Investigations showed that
security experts had urged the
President and the acting IG to
ensure that the
recommendations of a
committee headed by the were
implemented.
The PUNCH had on Monday
reported that the committee
recommended that Biu and the
five policemen should be
sacked and prosecuted.
It was learnt that those who
were against a soft-landing for
Biu cited his antecedents in the
police.
A source in the Presidency said
that because of public opinion,
there was no way Jonathan,
the acting IG and the Police
Service Commission would
yield to the pressure from Biu’s
sympathisers.
The Presidency source stated,
“You will recall that Biu was
the anti-terrorism chief of the
late maximum ruler, Gen.
Abacha. Biu’s group was used
by Abacha to unleash terror on
government’s perceived
opponents.
“Biu was said to have been
dismissed from the police after
Abacha’s death, but was
controversially reinstated and
promoted commissioner of
police by the PSC, which had
also ratified the demotion and
subsequent dismissal of former
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission chairman, Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu.”
He said any attempt to treat
Biu’s case with levity would
portray Jonathan’s
administration, locally and
internationally, as not being
serious with the war against
terrorism.
He said, “Those who are
resisting the pro-Biu group are
saying if Ringim can be forced
to resign, Biu and the five
policemen should face harsher
punishment.”
The Presidency source said it
was very unlikely that the
President would yield to
pressure from any quarters.
He said that while the
President would not go after
anybody, he would not allow
anybody to interfere with the
process to deal with the
offence committed by Biu and
others in detention with him.
The source said, “All I know is
that Biu and those who
committed the offence of
releasing Kabiru Sokoto would
be made to face the law.
“I’m not saying the President
would go after them; you know
that President Goodluck
Jonathan would not be
vindictive in this matter.
“The President would allow the
stipulated process to be
followed in dealing with the
grave offence or allegation
made against the
commissioner and his cohorts.
“If they are found guilty and
the punishment is dismissal,
they would be dismissed from
the force and tried for the
serious security offence and if
they are innocent, they would
be made to go.”
Efforts to get the reaction of
the Force Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Olusola Amore, on
the issue did not succeed as he
did not pick the five calls put to
his cell-phone between 4 pm
and 8 pm on Thursday.

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