IGP Baba Dismantles IRT Satellite Units After Abba Kyari’s Drug Trafficking Allegation
By Trek Africa Newspaper
IGP Usman Alkali Baba
In a bid to redefine the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) unit of the Nigerian Police after series of crimes linked to officers under the formation, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba, has ordered that all IRT satellite units across the country be dismantled immediately.
Baba also ordered that the officers attached to the dismantled units should resume to the Force Headquarters in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja and await further directives.
As gathered, the police officers, on arrival at the Force headquarters, would be debriefed, as well as demobilised before deployment to different commands across the country.
According to the IGP, all ongoing investigations currently being carried out by the officers in all units should be discontinued immediately and the officers leave for the force headquarters.
The Police boss added that any of the officers attached to the satellite units that refused to adhere to the directives would be sanctioned in accordance with the Force’s established disciplinary measures.
The IGP decision on Tuesday came barely 24 hours after the suspended IRT boss, Abba Kyari, and four others were handed over to the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for prosecution after they were linked to drug trafficking in the country.
Baba’s directives, according to sources, also include that IRT headquarters in Abuja should be fortified and prepared for an enhanced operational performance in order to combat emerging crime trends across the country.
The directives were contained in a document sent to the satellite offices and sighted by our correspondent which was signed by the Deputy IRT commander.
It would be recalled in July 2020, the then-Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, directed the disbandment of the satellite offices and bases of the IRT and STS, leaving the headquarters of the units under the State Investigation Bureau as a response to the public outcry on human rights infringement by some officers deployed to the units.
Source: The Guild
