I Never Refused to Honour Senate’s Invitation, Says IG

The Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, yesterday said there was never a time he turned down the invitation of the Senate.

He said he has always had high regard for the Senate as an institution, adding that there was never a time he was invited and he refused to honour the invitation.

Idris, who made this known last Saturday night in Kano in an interview with a local radio station, Dala FM, said he had no cause to refuse to answer the call of the Senate if the issue has to do with the national interest.

According to him,  “I have high regard for the Senate as an institution, because there has never been a time I was invited that I refused to honour any invitation.”

Idris noted that he places Senate in high esteem and would never refuse to honour its invitation.

He said the invitation of the Senate, according to the letter sent to him, was on Senator Dino Melaye’s case which is currently before a court, adding that discussing such would amount to prejudice and contempt.

The IG explained that since assumption of office in June 2016, he had appeared 10 times before the Senate on different issues of national importance, noting that he holds the lawmakers in high esteem.

Idris explained that the upper legislative chamber had refused the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in-charge of operation audience, which would have enabled the senators to understand reasons for not being around when he was invited on April 26.

“The recent claim by the Senate that the reason for inviting me was to brief them on the recent killings in some part of the country could be an afterthought which can be seen from the headings of their invitation letters,” he explained.

The Senate at the plenary recently declared the IG as an enemy of democracy and unfit to hold public office for failing to honour its invitations three times.

On the spate of killings in the country, Idris said new area commands had been created in some volatile environments, with the deployment of additional policemen to Zamfara, Birnin Gwari in Kaduna, Benue and Taraba States.

Also, he said the mop up exercise of prohibited arms and weapons across the country has led to the recovery of over 5,000 prohibited arms from wrong hands.

According to him, “It is a continuous operation as those in possession of such arms will be prosecuted after the expiration of the window created for voluntary submission of illegal weapons.”