Malik Yahya/
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Alkali Usman Baba has appointed Commissioner of Police (CP) Abiodun Sylvester Alabi as a replacement for retired Lagos State police boss, AIG Hakeem Odumosu.
The IGP also ordered the posting of CP Haruna Gabriel Garba and CP Tajudeen Akinwale Abass to Yobe and Benue State Commands respectively.
The posting followed recent promotion by the Police Service Commission, including those of two Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, six Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, and 17 Commissioners of Police.
Born on December 31, 1964, Alabi, an indigene of Ekiti State holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Lagos in 1986 and later bagged a master’s degree in Sociology from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 1989.
He enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on March 3, 1990, and he is a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management and a Fellow of the National Defence College, Abuja.
Alabi has attended several courses among which are Junior Command Course, Intermediate Command Course, Leadership and Senior Management Course, and he had served in various capacities in the NPF within and outside Nigeria, notably among United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in 2001. He was mobilized into the Police Mobile Force as Unit Commander in August 2001.
In April 2004, he became Squadron Commander of Police Mobile Force Squadron 43 Lagos (Diplomatic Protection Squadron) in charge of the security of all Embassies in Lagos.
Alabi was demobilized from the PMF in June 2009 as a Chief Superintendent of Police and subsequently posted to Lion Building Divisional Headquarters as the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and later redeployed as the DPO of Ikeja Divisional Headquarters, Lagos respectively.
In September 2013, he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police and deployed to Force Headquarters Abuja as ACP Admin Police Mobile Force.
In June 2016, he was promoted to the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police and posted to Taraba State Police Command as DCP Administration before his subsequent posting to Bayelsa State Command as the Deputy Commissioner of Police Administration in July 2017.
In December 2018, he was posted to Ekiti State Command as the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations, from where he was later nominated for the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja, Course 28.
At the completion of his Higher Defence and Strategic Course at the National Defense College, Alabi was promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Police in 2020.
He was later deployed to the Central Criminal Registry (CCR), Force CID Annex, Alagbon, Lagos, from where he was transferred to Bauchi State Command as the CP.
CP Garba holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Uyo. He was also appointed as a cadet officer in 1990 and has served in various operational, investigative, and administrative capacities within the Force. Prior to his elevation to the rank of Commissioner of Police, he was the DCP SCID, Yobe State Command.
CP Abass, the new Commissioner of Police, Benue State Police Command, was a former DCP State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) at the Oyo and Ogun State Commands respectively. He has also served as the AC SCID, Delta State Command, and as the Area Commander, Area C, Surulere, Lagos State Command, amongst others.
The IGP has charged the newly posted officers to ensure they consolidate and improve on the gains of their predecessors, particularly in the areas of crime-fighting and public safety. He further charged the officers to ensure their leadership roles in their new areas of assignment uphold policing virtues of professionalism, respect for rule of law, and citizens’ rights. The IGP enjoined citizens to render support and cooperation to the new Police helmsmen to enable them effectively deliver on their mandate.
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