By Chuks Okocha
The Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo General Assembly Worldwide has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a successor to the outgoing Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu, from any of the five states of the South-east geopolitical zone.
The Igbo group was reacting to the appointment of military service chiefs with none of them from the South-east zone.
It argued that since the police IG, Adamu, is due to retire in February, it would be appropriate to choose his successor from the zone.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last Tuesday appointed new service chiefs after the former ones resigned their appointments.
The new service chiefs are Leo Irabor, chief of defence staff; Ibrahim Attahiru, chief of army staff; Awwal Gambo, chief of naval staff, and Isiaka Amao, chief of air staff.
According to the President-General of the Igbo group, Onuorah Onyeachonam, in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday since President Buhari did not appoint any one from the South-east region as service chief, he should use the appointment of the new police chief as a compensation to the zone.
“The appointment of Adamu’s successor should come from senior police officers from the zone,” adding that if there is none qualified, there should be a promotion to enable a southeastern become the police chief.
“There is no Igbo man among the newly appointed service chiefs. Those who claim that the newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. Leo Irabor, is an Igbo man should tell us if Irabor is an Igbo name,” he said.
Accordingly, Onyeachonam said: “As the Inspector General of Police is due for retirement, we call on the All Progressives Congress (APC)- led federal government to consider an Igbo man for the position of the IG of police.
“If there is no Igbo man or woman qualified for the job of the IG, promote the Igbo officers next in line in the Police Force to fit in.”
The president-general of the Ohaneze group urged the newly appointed service chiefs to hit the ground running and stand-up to the “daring challenges of insecurity in our country.”
