TELL Magazine

• Accuses FG of Islamisation agenda

A retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, Parry Osayande, has upbraided the country’s Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, for approving the wearing of hijab by female officers. Osayande, who accused the federal government of plot to islamise Nigeria, described the move as “dangerous”.

Recall that Alkali Baba had last week, announced a new dress code for the Nigeria Police Force which allows female officers to wear hijab and stud earrings under their berets, or peak caps while in uniform. The dress code was unveiled at the IGP’s meeting with Strategic Police Managers on March 3, 2022.

But Osayande, at a press conference in Benin, Edo State capital on Wednesday frowned seriously at the development, stating that the IGP had no such right to introduce the use of hijab by female officers. Insisting that Alkali Baba did not even have the power “to utter a button in police uniform”, the former DIG described the decision as illegal and unconstitutional.

According to him, “though, the 1999 constitution was super imposed on Nigerians, the same does not give the IGP the constitutional right to wake-up one morning and say that Baba has approved the use of hijab, which is a Muslim mode of dressing, for the Nigerian Police. This is not Benin Police, Yoruba Police, or Muslim Police, but the Nigerian Police.

“The Constitution of Nigeria is the highest law of the land, and the Constitution says that if any other law is in variance with the constitution, that law will be null and void. There is a part of the Constitution that established Nigerian Police Council, which has the president of Nigeria as the chairman. It has the chairman of the Police Service Commission as a member, and the 36 State governors are also members. They are the only ones that have the Constitutional right to approve dressing code for the Nigerian Police”. He said the plan of the government was to Islamise Nigeria, and warned that such a move is dangerous and a breach of the Constitution.

“The use of hijab is a breach of the Constitution of the country; and if you are a governor and breached the Constitution of the land, it is impeachment. If you are a president, it is impeachment. If the Attorney General does not know his right, somebody has to teach him. The IGP has no power to utter a button in police uniform”.
He said the police are underpaid, underfunded, and needed attention from the government.

“Nigeria has about 774 local government areas, and we don’t have up to 800 vehicles for the police to cover the local governments. How do you expect them to do well?” he queried

Tinubu Vs Osinbajo: The Challenge Of The Godson

₦300.00

Click here to read more articles