I started covering and writing on the activities of security personnel and their agencies since 1982; cumulatively the exercise has been for 40 years.
So, as a veteran, my instinct and professional assessment of both the personnel and their agencies have been consistent with sharp eagle eyes. When you notice an officer that is well trained, courageous, diligent, patriotic and with the fear of God, then you have noticed one that would go places, and as it is said “the sky would be his limit”.
Such officers abound in the military, Nigeria Air Force, Navy, Police, Civil Defence Corps, Customs Service, DSS, EFCC and others. Men and women with distinct qualities, whose character is unblemished and full of the milk of human kindness, realizing that they are operating within the human environment. For an officer to excel professionally in any of the security agencies in Nigeria, apart from his educational qualifications and training grounded in discipline devoid of corrupt mindset, such an officer usually stands out. General Lucky Eluonye Onyenuchea Irabor caught my journalistic attention when he was the principal staff officer to the Chief of Army Staff , Lietenant General Azubuike Ihejirika, when my friend, the late Nkem Jika, had a security challenge. He had contacted his townsman who was the Chief of Army Staff and we were directed to his PSO. The meeting with General Irabor helped to erase previous prejudice and hatred for the military institution,sequel to an ugly and painful experience with the personnel of the 82 Army Brigade, Enugu, while working with National Concord in 1984. The ugly experience that could be compared to what robbers go through in the hands of police anti-robbery squad had stayed glued to my memory until I met General Irabor.
His humility and readiness to assist helped to resolve the issue.
Military generals are described as being disciplined officers of integrity, brave and regarded as men of honour. These are the foundations of effective leadership. So, it was not too long before he was hand-picked by Lt. General Tukur Buratai, who was appointed as Chief of Army Staff. Before his appointment by President Muhammad Buhari, the country was embroiled in insecurity occasioned by the activities of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, that had captured about 17 local government areas in Borno State, which seriously affected education, health and economy of the state. Irabor was appointed by Buratai as the theatre commander of Operation Lafia Dole in the North East.
Irabor quietly and systematically degraded the terrorists and completely recaptured all the occupied local government areas, to the admiration of the Borno State governor and the people of the state. In fact, he stands tall among other war generals of the world.
Irabor restored peace and economic activities to state that had been torn apart by terrorists’ war of aggression for over a decade.
I recall when the former Chief of Army Staff, Buratai, invited this writer to the war zone to witness military activities in Bama Local Government Area (See my column titled “My journey to Sambisa Forest” Parts 1, 2 & 3).
Even in the face of public disenchantment over the rising tide of insecurity, Irabor would also see himself wearing the same shoes as members of the public, but he is seen putting on his war thinking cap to find solutions to the nagging problems. His fellow generals attest to his uniqueness in war strategy. Those who spoke to this writer described him glowingly in several fantastic terms.
While I was the guest of General Buratai and also General Irabor, I observed another impressive aspect of Irabor as an astute war commander of note. A creative and excellent war strategist, who is loved and revered by his officers and men, he was their war icon and hero whose strategic planning and execution of war gave the Nigerian troops the edge they had over the Boko Haram terrorists, which eventually gave them the celebrated victory. A patriotic military leader who is very concerned and wants to be in all the insecure states.
Born on October 5, 1965, Irabor had his education at the National Defence College, Harvard Kennedy School, AFCSC Nigeria, University of Ghana, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP).
As the Chief of Defence Staff, another war urgently beckons on strategic acumen to stop and resolve the killings around the country, since it is becoming more evident that the Nigeria Police, who have constitutionally mandated to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians, are overwhelmed or incapable of addressing the insecurity in the country.
Today, innocent blood is being shed across the states sequel to rising insecurity in the country, specifically in Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Benue, Plateau, Anambra and Imo states. This should be under the operational view of the military. Drastic security problems need drastic operational solutions, if peace should be restored in these insecure states.
No wonder even the country included him as one of the recipients of the National Merit Award. Also, the Ebonyi State government recently honoured him.
————————————————
Will you kill me as you killed Bolanle?
An epic moving biblical story narrated around the life of Moses the liberator of his Hebrew kinsmen was captured in the holy book (Exodus Chapter 2 verses 11 & 12).
According to the story, two men were engaged in a fisticuffs and Moses intervened and killed the non-Hebrew. Unfortunately, the next day, he encountered two of his own kinsmen engaged in a hot argument and was about to resolve the misunderstanding but one of them who had witnessed the killing the previous day cried out, asking: “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian?” And Moses feared, and said, “Surely this thing is known.”
Indeed, so was the dastardly shooting of Mrs. Bolanle Raheem, a senior Lagos lawyer whose life was terminated with the bullet from the barrel of the gun in the hand of a senior police officer whose identity was initially shrouded in secrecy but is now known. An adage says, “Every day is for the thief, but one day is for the owner of the item.”
The killer cop was an Assistant Superintendent of Police (one star) Drambi Vandi of Ajiwe Division, Lagos. His Facebook page identified him as a detective who is a native of Michika, a town and local government area in Adamawa State, Nigeria.
The trigger-happy officer had put into police 33 years of service and was supposed to retire and hang his booths and uniform in two years’ time and may have been intimidating the civilian populace that crossed his path as a junior officer in the past. Some of the northern officers go through the corrupt route to ensure that they get posted to the southern and eastern states. Avoiding such human loss was the reason notable security experts and eminent Nigerians were clamoring for the establishment of a state policing system.
This has become one killing too many, especially bearing in mind that a similar incident occurred at the same location less than three weeks ago. The condemnable incident is against the standard operating procedures (SOP) and rules of engagement of the Nigeria Police Force. The police force is one security agency that few judases in its uniform continue to drag its name in the mud. Unfortunate incidents of trigger-happy policemen, usually described as “Killer Cops,” were a recurrent phenomenon around the country, whose major root causes are yet to be identified with a decision to stop the disgraceful trend. Thank goodness President Muhammadu Buhari was quick to condemned the killing, which he aptly described as “heinous and senseless.”