INSECURITY: Was Buhari Right On Police IG Losing Weight?

Does “losing weight” automatically translate to hard work or results? Some Nigerians would have asked this question after President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, must have been working very hard to curb insecurity in the country which has caused him to shed some weight.

Buhari had been asked what he plans to do to address the current security challenges facing the country, especially kidnapping, during his arrival from a 10-day private visit to London. The President responded: “I have just seen the IGP (Inspector General of Police), he is losing weight so I think he is working hard”.

While Buhari was away in the United Kingdom, there were at least five cases of kidnapping in the country, including the abduction of the father-in-law to his Aide de Camp (ADC), Colonel Mohammed Abubakar in the President’s hometown of Daura in Katisina state.

It was expected that the President would have responded with an assuring answer when the question was posed to him on his arrival at the airport as insecurity, especially hostage-taking or kidnaping, is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges currently facing the country.

His assumption that IGP Adamu has lost some weight because he is “working hard” to curtail the recent surge of kidnapping and other crimes in the country may not necessarily be case.

When compared, photos of when President Buhari appointed Adamu as IGP and now have not shown any notable indication that the police chief has lost weight. The IGP as seen in the photos below has always been a lanky police officer.

President Buhari won Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election mainly on the promise to address the security challenges the county had been faced with.

The President has received commendation from different quarters for his efforts in tackling insecurity and degrading the activities of Boko Haram insurgents since he assumed office. However, the recent surge in the cases of kidnappings and other crimes in the country may pose a threat to his successes with security.

Kidnapping in Nigeria

Kidnapping is described as the unlawful detention of a person or persons against their will for ransom or any other economic or material gain.

It is an offence indictable for terrorism under Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011, and attracts a sentence “to life imprisonment or to a fine of not less than 150 million Naira or both.”

In 1999, Nigeria was ranked 8th position among countries where kidnaping thrived in a 2001 report by the Defence Industry Security Association (formerly the Guild of Security Controllers). In 2014, the country ranked 5th position globally according to a 2015 RiskMap Report.

Also, a 2013 survey on global crime trends carried out by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime also revealed that at national level Nigeria recorded 277 kidnappings in 2007, 309 in 2018, 703 in 2009, and 738 in 2010. A 2014 report by the organization showed a decline in 2012 as the recorded 600 kidnappings in that year.