Ronke Kehinde/
Does the name Dan Nkem Okoro still ring a bell?
Recall the celebrated murder cases of Cynthia Osokogu, Ijeoma Nwachukwu and Lizzy Njideka Nzewi at various times in Lagos, then Okoro needs no further introduction. He solved the murder mysteries and received medals and ribbons for his works as a master detective.
He was back in the limelight again this Monday at the Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Onikan, in Lagos, where he received commendation for hard work and was decorated with a new rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
After decorating Okoro with his new rank on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Mr Abdulmajid Ali expressed admiration for the officer’s sterling qualities and urged him to continue to do his work well and remain himself.
He said: “I got to know DCP Dan Okoro in 1994, when I was on my way to Yugoslavia on a Peace Keeping Mission. It was at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport. At that time, he was a one-star officer. Within the short period that we met, I found him to be an astute officer, quite intelligent; an operational officer, hard working officer loved for his professionalism on duty.
“We know that people look up to the police. We need to do our job in line with traditional core value. We need to make sure that we protect the citizen, because they look forward to the police to protect them. We need to shun corruption. I know many times that you’ve been offered money to compromise cases and you refused. The promotion to the rank of DCP is not a surprise. He has long merited this promotion and it’s an honour to decorate him on behalf of the IGP. We pray that God should protect him and give him more vigour to serve the fatherland.”
Ali noted that his being the AIG at Zone 2 was not by accident.
“It’s hard work,” he said. “Once you know someone that can deliver, you support him. I’ve moved round the country, all the geo-political zones and I remain who I am. Do your job and remain Dan Okoro that people have known you for.”
While reading Okoro’s long citation, the police spokesman at Zone 2, Olumuyiwa Adejobi described him as a versatile officer, who had excelled as a crime fighter.
Okoro, who has resumed at his new duty post at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, once received a medal for his courage and intelligence from former President, Goodluck Jonathan, after he arrested the Internet fraudsters who killed Cynthia Osokogu, a postgraduate student of Nasarawa State University and daughter of a retired General.
Before then, he had received the IGP Ibrahim Coomasie Award for Brilliant Investigation and Courage; award from the Chairman National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the late Gen. Musa Bamaiyi for dedication and tact, among others.
Okoro, a graduate of University of Lagos, Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, and Imo State University, Owerri, bagged a degree in Law (LLB), a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration.
He had also received training at the Egyptian Police Academy and at the Israeli Intelligence Agency, Mossad.