Buhari Decentralises Police Intelligence Dept, Approves Additional Zonal Commands

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a major reorganisation of the Nigeria Police Force with the decentralisation the force’s intelligence department and creation of five additional zonal commands.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officer, on Thursday.
Mba said Buhari, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Police Council, has granted full autonomy to the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) and also approved the establishment of two offices of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department in Enugu and Gombe states.
According to the police headquarters, the new changes are geared towards addressing threats posed by the dynamics of crime, as well as the full implementation of the Community Policing Initiative.
The statement read: “By this re-organisation, the FIB, which was previously a section under the FCIID, is now a full-fledged Department of the Force to be headed by a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG). With this new arrangement, the Nigeria Police Force now has eight (8) Departments and each is headed by a DIG.
“The Federal Government also approved the further decentralization of the FCID with the establishment of two additional offices in Enugu and Gombe States.
“While the office in Enugu is expected to take care of investigations of major crimes emanating from the South-East and South-South geo-political zones, the office in Gombe will take care of the North-East geo-political zone.
“Each of these Annexes, in addition to the pre-existing ones in Lagos and Kaduna States, shall be headed by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) who shall report to the DIG in-charge of the FCID, Force Headquarters, Abuja.”
The police spokesperson also announced that the new five zonal commands have been created to cover Akure (Ondo/Ekiti Commands), Awka (Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi), Yenagoa (Bayelsa, Rivers Commands), Maiduguri (Yobe, Borno Commands) and Katsina (Katsina, Kaduna Commands).
The force now has 17 zonal commands across the country.