Less than 10 days after he assumed duty at the Onikan Headquarters of Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police, Assistant Inspector General of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu, last Friday got a 'special welcome to Lagos' treatment by staff of the Lekki Concession Company Limited, which left him embarrassed and red in the face.
A source who witnessed the less-than-savoury treatment given to the AIG told SUNDAY SUN that Mbu's convoy, consisting of six police cars and an armoured personnel carrier, sought to transit through the Ikoyi-Lekki toll plaza on Lane 8.
On reaching the toll point, some of the police orderlies escorting the convoy allegedly ran up and informed the LCC staff member on duty and the mobile policemen standing by that the AIG was in the convoy.
The staff member was said to have retorted: "Who is the AIG? He should follow procedure and pay the toll."
The AIG was said to have overheard the remark and felt insulted by the effrontery of the LCC toll plaza staff. To make matters worse, the five mobile policemen attached to the plaza were said not to have shown proper courtesy consistent with the practice of the armed services and paramilitary organizations as they engaged the orderlies escorting the convoy in an altercation. Their conduct was said to have enraged the AIG, who then ordered that they be arrested along with the LCC staffer and detained at the Maroko Police Station.
Upon learning about the incident and the fate that befell its worker, LCC management was said to have reached out to the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu 1, who facilitated the release of the detainees yesterday. When contacted on the phone, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, DSP Kenneth Nwosu declined to comment on the incident, stating that it was not a matter related to the state command. However, a senior police officer who pleaded not to be named confirmed the incident and added that the affected LCC worker and policemen were arrested, detained over night and cautioned before being released. Meanwhile, SUNDAY SUN learnt that the AIG had ordered the immediate withdrawal of all policemen attached to LCC.
In recent times, the career of AIG Mbu has been dogged by controversy. Coming so soon after he arrived to assume duties in the Zone 2 Command, comprising Lagos State and Ogun State, the latest incident involving him in some sense bears out the belief held by many that controversy sticks to him like a leech.
The running battle between the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and Mbu, when he was the Commissioner of Police in that state is still fresh in the memory of Nigerians and officials of the Rivers State Government, who understandably heaved a sigh of relief when he was transferred to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Not long after he got to Abuja FCT as Police Commissioner, he was elevated to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police. Then on Tuesday, January 20, the Inspector General of Police, Abba Suleiman announced Mbu’s redeployment to head Zone 2 Command. The action taken by the IGP in the normal course of executing his duties, set off a ripple in the rank of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, which promptly issued a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the next day, in which the party warned that it would not tolerate what it described as the "indecorous notoriety" of Mbu.
The statement read in part: "We want to warn Mbu that he is coming to Lagos. We want to let him know that naturally, Lagos is not tolerant of negative behaviours from cultural savages and people without scruples, so he needs to adjust to the civilized template of Lagos or get his hands burnt."
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