There is palpable anxiety within the ranks of the Nigeria Police Force as the Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, swears in the new management team today.

The new management force was approved by the Police Service Commission (PSC) last week following the retirement of 21 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs). There were allegations that at least five officers were shoved aside to pave way for the chosen few.

The appointment of the Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIGs) contravenes the old order, as the Act establishing the Commission stipulates that it recommends before sending to the Presidency for approval, but the reverse was the case this time around.

But according to a source close to the new IGP, the choice of the DIGs was deliberate to reflect representation from the six geo-political zones even though some of the AIGs would have also fitted the bill right. They were chosen to satisfy the powers that be.

One of the affected officers told The Guardian on condition of anonymity that their “untimely retirement for service is not in the interest of the Police Force because there is still work to be done.

The source said: “These are initiatives that have placed the Nigeria Police Force where it is today, the personnel is happy, the rank and file is well-motivated, but with some of us that were driving the projects out of the force, there’s a likelihood that driving the process further would be affected because the people that have the idea are not there to see its sustained success.”

According to Anthony Danladi, a retired senior police officer, the retirement of the AIGs is in order because it is expected that the IGP should be the “most senior person in the Police Force, except in exceptional cases, but here we have a situation where he is one of the most junior AIGs. If he now puts them in whatever position, they may be insubordinate or lay claims to knowing more than he does and knowing the security service. He would be expected to respect his senior. This would affect his work and so he didn’t have a choice but to retire them.

“But what seems not to be clear is the fact that the recommendation for their retirement came from the Presidency instead of the Police Service Commission (PSC)”, he said.

Another senior police officer, who desired not to be mentioned because he is still in service, told The Guardian that the retirement of the AIGs could be explained, but the appointment of CPs to become DIGs even though there are junior AIGs to the acting IGP whom he could have easily promoted to be part of the management is beyond his understanding.

“It was done before during Tafa Balogun’s time, but it was only two CPs who were from the South-South and South-East where the AIGs from the zones had just but a short time to remain in service. Balogun appointed Ogbonnaya Onovo and Mike Okiro, who were both Commissioners of Police at the time to DIGs, recall that both gentlemen later became IGPs themselves. So, it is not exactly new.

“But this time, it is different. There are more senior officers that are qualified to be there, even by geographical classification, but they were skipped and retired. Some would have made reasonable contributions to the administration, like Arase did during Suleiman Abba’s time, but it is apparent the government does not want them to be there anymore”, he said.