National
I-G unveils new uniforms for Supernumerary officers
The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Olukayode Egbetokun, has ordered organisations utilising Supernumerary Police (SPY) personnel to strictly adhere to the new standardised uniforms of the officers.
Egbetokun, represented by Mr Bala Ciroma, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Administration and Finance, gave the order on Tuesday in Abuja at the inauguration of the new standard SPY uniforms.
“As we relaunch these uniforms and kits, we mandate all organisations utilising SPY Police personnel to strictly adhere to these new standardised uniforms.
“The Force Quartermaster and personnel across the states will provide guidance on the registration and acquisition.
“All Police Training Schools are instructed to adopt the new uniform issuance model for SPY Police personnel,” he said.
Egbetokun said the Nigeria Police Force was actively taking measures to prevent the unauthorised production and distribution of police uniforms, including the SPY uniform.
He said the inauguration of the newly approved standardised SPY police uniforms and kits was a significant milestone and a crucial step to enhance professionalism and visibility of the officers.
According to him, Section 21(7) of the Nigeria Police Act 2020 (as amended) formally establishes the Supernumerary Police as an integral unit within the Nigeria Police Force.
“The Act further defines their powers, privileges, and functions, as well as their supervision by the Nigeria Police Force, including their uniforms and accoutrements, thereby ensuring a standardised visual identity.
“Pursuant to Section 21 of the same Act, private organisations or government departments seeking to utilise the services of the officers for the protection of their owned or controlled properties may submit an application to the I-G.”
“In spite of being an essential and desirable component of the force, the SPY Unit has faced difficulties in establishing a distinct identity,” he said.
The I-G said attempts to create and enhance its identity had been significantly impeded by a lack of a standardised and distinctive uniform, which had persisted as a major obstacle.
According to him, upon assumption of office, the current force management team recognised the need to leverage the support of the SPY Police Unit to augment guard and protective commitment nationwide.(NAN)
Police authorities have called on the organisers of a nationwide protest billed for April 7, 2025, to shelve the plan.
The Take-It-Back (TIB) movement had scheduled a nationwide protest for Monday, April 7, 2025, citing several national issues.
However, in a statement on Sunday, the spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Muyiwa Adejobi, described the protest as ill-timed, especially as it coincided with the National Police Day celebration.
“In line with best global practices adopted by nations in celebrating the achievements of its Police institution, the Nigerian Government has taken the bull by the horn by declaring every April 7 as National Police Day,” the police statement read.
“The rationale behind staging a nationwide protest on the same day is however questionable and perceived to be a deliberate attempt and unpatriotic act that is capable of rubbishing and maligning the image of the Nigeria Police and the nation as a whole. The Nigeria Police Force hereby advises the organizers to shelve this planned protest as it is ill-timed and mischievous.”
According to the Nigeria Police Force, the organisers should instead give room for dialogue with the government.
“The Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, while reaffirming the commitment of the NPF to adequately carrying out its mandate in accordance with the Law and respect for rights of citizens hereby urges all the organizers of the planned protest as well as individuals who intend to join the protest to pursue dialogue by engaging the proper institution of government to press home their demands,” the police said.
A longlist of notable politicians including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi are in talks to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
This is according to the SDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election Adewole Adebayo.
Adebayo said Atiku and Obi’s men are in talks for their principals to team up with the SDP, which recently welcomed a former Kaduna State governor and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (SDP) into its fold.
“People are joining my party, and we are welcoming them. You can see how active I am in welcoming them. The only little issue we have with some of them is to change the culture where if you have not been in an environment where rules are taken seriously,” the SDP chieftain said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“Some of them are doing some Boy Scouts, black market operations, we are dealing with that. But we welcome them into the party. All these people you have mentioned, El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, even former Governor Peter Obi are coming. A lot of people are coming, and we will welcome them.”
When he was asked to clarify if Obi, a former Anambra State governor, is joining the SDP, Adebayo said, “Supposedly, until somebody joins, we don’t know. But people have told me, and the Financial Secretary (SDP) has also informed me, that they are talking. So we will welcome everybody.
“Surely, when we come in, and we don’t become a tower of Babel; if we come in, follow the rules and allow one person to emerge transparently, clearly, without cheating, without criminality the way we did our convention in 2022, people applauded us transparently, no court case, no crisis, no allegations.
“If they can stick to our culture and follow the way we do in the SDP and produce a good alternative to Nigerians, we are going to manifestly defeat the APC and retire President Tinubu to Lagos or wherever he chooses in Nigeria.”
Obi, who enjoys the backing of millions of Nigerian youths, came third in the last presidential election after polling about six million votes.
Atiku was second in the poll won by the APC’s Bola Tinubu.
Despite suggestions to the contrary, Obi has repeatedly said he remains in LP, the party that powered his 2023 presidential ambition.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have intercepted cocaine hidden inside the walls of several suitcases.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a post on Sunday, attaching the videos of the seized contraband on X.
He decried a situation whereby the smugglers went to extreme lengths, factory-fitting the hard drugs within the luggage with surgical precision.
“Narco-trend update: Strewing the walls of suitcases, in factory fitting precision, with cocaine, must have taken lot of efforts and resources but at the end #ndlea_nigeria officers still uncovered all as revealed in these videos that captured the latest seizure by #ndlea,” the statement read.
According to the video released by the agency, officers were slicing through suitcase linings to remove the hidden cocaine.