President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mohammed Adamu to take over from Ibrahim Idris as Nigeria's new Inspector-General of Police (IGP).
The appointment was announced after a meeting involving Buhari, Adamu and Idris on Tuesday, January 15, 2019.
Adamu, who was serving as Assistant IGP, was decorated by the president and his predecessor at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Here are a few things to know about the new Police chief:
- He was born on September 17, 1961 (currently 57 years old) and enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force on February 1, 1986 as Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police at the age of 24.
- He served as Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5 Police Command Headquarters, Benin, Edo State.
- He had previously served as the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti and Enugu states.
- He was a Directing Staff at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Plateau State.
- He's worked at the International Criminal Police Organization, more commonly known as Interpol, as Economic and Financial Crime Specialist (1997-2002); Assistant Director in charge of the African Sub-Directorate of INTERPOL General Secretariat (2002-2005); Director, National Central Bureau and I-24/7 Global Communication System and Development (2005-2007); Executive Member (2010-2012) and Vice President responsible for Africa (2012-2014).
- He holds a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and a Master of Science (MSc) in International Criminal Justice Systems from the University of Portsmouth, England.
- He's a native of Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
Idris expressed his gratitude to the president for the opportunity to serve under his administration and thanked Nigerians for their support during his tenure.
He called on Nigerians to also support Adamu as he assumes leadership of the Force.