Deploying Abacha Era Tactics?

Some critics have attributed the openly partisan approach to policing adopted by Abba to the fact that he may not have weaned himself off the mentality of dictatorship he imbibed as the ADC to the wife of late Nigerian maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha. Investigations also indicated that the IG served in the dreaded Strike Force established by of the former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to Abacha, Major Hamza al-Mustapha, to provide security to the late dictator. He also served under Ibrahim Coomasie, who was Police IG from 1993 to 1999, a period that can be described as the most repressive of basic constitutional guaranteed freedoms in recent Nigeria’s history.

Hiding under different spectres of threat to the Nigerian state, Coomassie had embarked on mass arrest of pro-democracy and rights activists and journalists. Coomasie it was that directed the arrest of president-elect M.K.O. Abiola in 1994 without warrant and he ensured that the June 12, 1993 hero was detained for four years before dying in June 1998. The police also regularly staged bombing incidents during the regime of the former IG to rope in activists and journalists.

•Coomasie: Also clamped down on opposition forces during the Abacha era

Coomasie had in 1997 accused the foremost pro-democracy group, the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, of responsibility for a series of bombing incidents, and went on to accuse American diplomats in Nigeria of being accomplices in the bombing incidents. Also, Sunday Adewusi, police IG in the Second Republic turned the police NPN’s tool.

Indeed, against all diplomatic protocols, the retired IG had in 1997 indicated his intention to question American Ambassador Walter C. Carrington who was close to many leaders of NADECO and members of the US Embassy staff about the series of bombings. “We certainly require a diplomatic immunity waiver to allow us to interrogate the U.S. Ambassador and several staff of the U.S. Embassy,’’ Coomasie had said then.

•Adewusi: Turned the police to NPN’s tool

It was therefore not a surprise that Coomasie was briefly arrested when the civilian government of President Olusegun Obasanjo set up a panel to probe abuses by the then Abacha regime in 1999. Analysts are drawing a parallel with the way Coomasie regularly built up a false scenario of impending doom and chaos to arrest, punish and clamp into detention those he deemed to be in opposition to the late dictator and the confetti of lies used by Abba to justify his directive to his men to invade the National Assembly complex during his appearance before the House Police committee last week.

The Man Suleiman Abba

Suleiman Abbah, was born at Kofar Nassarawa, Kano State on 22 March, 1959 to the family of Alhaji Mohammed Abbah Suleiman and Hajiya Mariam Mohammed. He attended Gwaram Central Primary School now Jigawa State. He later enrolled into Government Secondary School, Danbatta and Kano State School of Preliminary Studies. He thereafter gained admission into the University Of Jos, where he obtained a Bachelors Degree (B.A.) in history. Still in the bid to fill his insatiable quest for education, he obtained a degree in Law, LLB from the University of Abuja in 2005. Abbah got enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force in 1984 as a Cadet Superintendent Of Police and trained at the Police Staff College, Jos. Abbah underwent virtually all spheres of police posting: from 1986 to 1988. He was Divisional Crime Officer in Biu, 1988-1993 and served in the Police Mobile Force, PMF, as unit Commander Mopol 20 Ikeja Lagos. He also served as an officer commanding 21 PMF, Abuja. He later served as Divisional Police Officer Wuse, Abuja and also as an instructor at the Police Academy, Kano between 1993-1994. He became the Commanding Officer 24 (PMF) Presidential Escort, Presidential Villa Abuja and was later appointed Aide-de-camp to the Head Of State, Commander-in-Chief Of The Armed Forces in 1995 (Office Of The First Lady, Mariam Sani Abacha). He served in that capacity till June, 1998. Between 1999 to 2002, he was Assistant Commissioner Of Police, Criminal Investigative Department, FCT Police Command. He was Deputy Force Secretary in the rank of Deputy Commissioner Of Police from 2002-2005. He was also Deputy Commissioner Of Police for Kebbi and Kano State commands between 2007 and 2008 respectively. He again served as Deputy Force Secretary in the rank of Commissioner of Police from 2008-2009.

While serving in this office, Abbah was nominated for NIPSS Senior Executive Course No 31. He has also attended several other esteem courses and seminars in Saudi Arabia, China, Jordan, United Kingdom, United State of America, Russia, United Arab Emirate.

On 1st December, 2009, Suleiman Abbah was posted as the Commissioner of Police Rivers State Police Command. Until his appointment as IG, Suleiman Abbah was an Assistant Inspector General Of Police (AIG) Zone 7 which comprised of FCT Abuja, Kaduna and Niger. He is married to Hajiya Aishatu and has nine children.

—Oluwole Adeboye