Continue With What We’ve Been Doing Together – Egbetokun Tells Successor

The Immediate past Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has urged the newly appointed Acting IGP to sustain ongoing reforms and build on the security architecture put in place under his administration.

He spoke in Abuja shortly after the new police chief, Tunji Disu, assumed duties.

Egbetokun said the new police boss was not a stranger to the system, having worked closely with him from the beginning of his tenure.

He recalled that the Acting IGP served as his Directing Staff Officer, Commissioner of Police in Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory, and later as Assistant Inspector General in charge of the Special Bureau.

According to him, the new IGP played a decisive role in enforcing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive withdrawing police personnel from VIP protection.

“My advice to the newly appointed Acting Inspector-General of Police is that he should continue to show commitment to the things we have been doing. He has been part of my administration; he was my PSO, he was CP of Rivers and FCT. He was the AIG in charge of my SPU. When the presidential order was given to withdraw police from VIPs, it was Tunji Disu that I called upon to ensure full compliance and he did it effectively,” Egbetokun said.

“I am happy that he is the one that is taking over from me. And my advice to him again is that he knows all those things that we have been doing together; restructuring of our intelligence coordination; dismantling criminal networks; improving interagency deployment model, I am sure he is going to continue to do that.”

The outgoing police chief stressed that his successor was fully conversant with the internal restructuring of intelligence coordination and the improved intelligence deployment model introduced during the period.

He expressed confidence that the ongoing dismantling of criminal syndicates across the country would continue under the new leadership.

In his response, the Acting Inspector General described his appointment as emotional and unexpected.

He thanked the President for finding him worthy of the position, noting that the detailed reference to his career record almost moved him to tears.

He said the President’s remarks showed close monitoring of officers nationwide and interpreted the appointment as a challenge to deliver peace, recognition and calm across the country.