IGP Alkali under fire over hate comments on Tiv people

A socio-cultural group, the Tiv Youth Organization, TYO has berated the Inspector General of Police, IGP Alkali Usman Baba over what the group described as “distasteful, ethnic profiling” of the Tiv people.

The TYO has also given the Police chief seven days to retract the hateful statement profiling the Tiv and tender an apology, saying failure to do so, the group would seek legal redress.

A press statement issued by the group read in parts:

“The attention of Tiv Youth Organisation (TYO) has been drawn to an incendiary statement from the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali where he responds to the dismissal of three policemen and says that one of the dismissed officers was a Tiv man dressed as a Tiv warrior. This was reported by The Nation newspaper on Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

“Of course Inspector Gile is a Tiv man and if he committed a crime, he should suffer the consequences. It is however astounding that a police officer would be profiled and his ethnicity used to justify his criminality. As an organization that cares and protects the integrity and interest of Tiv, the TYO finds this ethnic profiling distasteful and preposterous.”

The statement signed by the group’s President-General, Timothy Hembaor said “It is on record that on Wednesday, 6th April, 2022 as reported by Daily Trust, IGP Alkali dismissed nine police officers.”

The TYO questioned why the ethnicities of previously dismissed police officers were never mentioned by the IGP except the Tiv man.

The group expressed displeasure over the IGP’s conduct saying, “And by this nauseating profiling, the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Usman Alkali Baba has clearly shown that he is the Commander of the Fulani militia.”

The group’s statement further stressed that “We recently buried an illustrious Tiv man Assistant Inspector General, AIG Don Awunah who was a quintessential police officer and held numerous postings across the country and was at some point the Force Public Relations Officer, all with an unblemished service record. Before Awunah, other police officers of Tiv extraction had worked and retired gloriously while many are still serving in the police force.

“With this recent incident of profiling, the TYO is apprehensive of their collective welfare as the present IGP Alkali has shown that he has an axe to grind with the Tiv in the Police Force. We therefore find it necessary to raise the red flag that the IGP be called to order.”

The group accused the IGP of being partial, biased and protecting the interest of vested people in the country.

“It is important to know that ordinarily, we judge people by their conduct and if ethnicity is the cornerstone of official conduct, IGP Usman Alkali is the number one Fulani militia in the country. The TYO has always believed that the invincibility of the Fulani militia has been occasioned by the jugular hold on power by the Fulani elite in Nigeria.

“They have the presidency and by extension, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. This is why no Fulani militia is in detention nor on trial for the numerous terrorist atrocities they have inflicted on the country.

“The position of the IGP is not new to the people of Nigeria. Since independence, we have had 21 Inspectors General of Police, but the present IGP is the worst the country has seen. The present security depreciation is unprecedented and it is crystal clear that the IGP is clueless beyond executing his ethnic agenda. It is shocking that Fulani militia attack police stations with glee and attack Correctional Centres where they release prisoners, and the IGP appears to be nodding in commendation.

“IGP Usman Alkali joined the Police Force when he graduated from Government Teachers College, Potiskum, Yobe state and we are sure some of those with whom he joined the Police, came into the Force with superior qualifications. We have fallen victim to political subterfuge where people like Alkali are given positions they do not merit and they end up becoming national disasters to the country. This is a major problem with the Nigerian State under this present federal government. It is deplorable,” the statement added.