Benneth Igweh: A Knight on the Mount

By Ernest Omoarelojie

When Bennerth Igweh assumed office as Police Commissioner, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, he was not verbose while stating his mission and treaty of commitment. His promise was simple-make life miserable for the legion of criminals-kidnappers, terrorists, bandits, robbers, One-Chance felons and many other goons that were on the loose and turning the lives of residents of the nation’s political capital into living hell.

In more ways than one, Igweh gave the quiet assurance that he was around to ensure that they were all reined and put on leash, in no time at all. But for thousands of the weary residents who listened to him on radio, watched him on television and or read his statement of intent online and in the traditional press, it was more like a rehearsal of old news. Indeed, given past experiences, some were half assured while a lot more were not at all. Overall however, none was amused.

In the main, FCT residents were askance, bearing in mind the peculiar and Herculean nature of the task he made simple, too simple for comfort, in his inaugural speech. The option left was for them to adopt the wait-and-see attitude, enough to find out how he was going to garner, deploy and marshal the scarcely available resources, including the will and or readiness of the command’s weary officers and men, for the rather difficult task ahead.

Gradually however, Igweh has not only established his authority over the commitments he made, he has gone a step forward to set a policing standard that is fast becoming a reference point, at least, in the FCT.

The first sign that CP Igweh and his team were indeed setting a new policing standard in the FCT was made manifest with the visit of the minister in charge of the territory, immediate past governor of Rivers state, Nyeson Wike. It was the first of its kind in the history of the command. Perhaps not by accident, the visit coincided with the parade of some members of the most notorious kidnap gangs in the history of both the city and Command.

Those paraded include Usman Muazu, Aliu Mohammed, Awwal Dahiru, Rabi Sani, Madina Abubakar, Jonah Elimelechi, Saminu Idris and Mariji Iliya. Unfortunately, Saidu Abdulkadir, aka Dahiru Adamu, the character identified as the gang’s kingpin, managed to escape the dragnet set by the command’s very painstaking and diligent crop of operatives. However, the minister, who was obviously impressed with the command’s success record and status of the criminals paraded, offered a N20m arrest bounty on the head of the fleeing kingpin. And less than a fortnight after offering the gesture, the fleeing suspect was safely tucked away inside the safe precinct of the command’s custody, far away from where he would continue to be a threat to FCT residents.

Before and after Abdulkadir and his henchmen received residency permits from the long arm of the law, Igweh and his men also celebrated the disengagement of more criminals from operations within and outside the FCT. For instance, residents of the city and those in neighbouring Kaduna state, went into jubilation when news of the capture of notorious cross border bandit, Chinasa Philip, said to be responsible for sundry abductions, nabbed in Kaduna while fleeing from the FCT, hit the airways. His arrest came via the collective efforts of operatives of the FCT command and other sister security agents particularly at the Kaduna state end. It was a proof of both the FCT Command’s operational efficiency and the eagle-eye commitment and awareness of everyone else involved in the outcome.

Among other victory songs on the shelf for Igweh and his team, they also own the patent rights for the capture of several other crooks, including 20 year-old Muhammad Buhari, Muhammad Sabiu, Isah Abdulahi, Hamza Musa, Fatima Abdulahi, Zuliat Yusuf, all of whom confessed culpability in the kidnap of one Joshua Eze on 27-01-2024. The victory song for the CP and his team came from the fact that the victim was rescued less than 24 hours after being held captive by the criminal gang.

As if that was not enough, Igweh and his team also own the bragging rights over the capture of another notorious kidnap kingpin, Samaila Wakili Fafa, aka, Habu Ibrahim, described as the second most wanted FCT kidnapper.

Even when he is dressed in his official uniform, there is nothing extraordinary about Igweh. Unassuming, genial and always without airs, the CP, very amiable in every sense of the word, is often seen chatting and sharing banters with his officers and men, most of whom have come to see him as Primus Inter Pares. Little wonder, the shout of “Igweeeeeh”, is a regular chant whenever he is within sight at the Command headquarters.

 For an officer who is often in the heat of fire while parading the street with his operatives, the ululation did not come without merit. Without any iota of doubt, he is one outstanding and determined police officer who has the uncanny ability, arguably from his unassuming nature, to engineer a belief among his officers and men in ways that tend to draw out their best form in terms of both their commitment to and conduct at duty posts. This has so endeared him to the team that a difficult-to-describe camaraderie now pervades the FCT command structure. The bottom line is that he has become both a nightmare to those who made life hellish for residents in the FCT and a source of inspiration for his police team.

Igweh did not have to dig into rocket science to find the required work ethic, enough for Team FCT Command to wake up to one of its statutory responsibilities of providing safety of residents’ lives and property. He simply demanded for and insisted on the need for every member of the team to up the ante in understanding the demands of duty. He also reminded them of the need to adhere to the command’s unalloyed commitment to global rules of engagement and best practices, in terms of respect for fundamental human rights. Not least was his demand for them to operate visibility in policing while maintaining what he termed, proactive approach to identified security challenges. Yet, he has been consistent and unequivocal in restating the command’s aversion to laxity while also calling on residents to consider as mandatory, the mutually beneficial duty of assisting the command in intelligence gathering. Even more so, he emphasized his readiness to provide a demonstrable leadership role, a promise he has kept and lived up to since he assumed office.

As one would expect, the result of Igweh’s proactive policing has seen an unprecedented rise in the profile of the command, particularly following a series of successful, intelligence-based raids of criminal hideouts and capture of hundreds of crime agents around the length and breadth of the FCT. Remarkably, Igweh and his team have been roundly successful in the pursuit of and capture of kidnap goons. It is a feat FCT residents acknowledge with pride. Yet the residents are also eager to have the feat encored in the outcome of the very unfortunate but peculiar Once-Chance robbery runs across the city.

With certainty, the command has done so well in roping in a number of its prized operators of the robbery syndicates with specialty in dispossessing victims of their belongings before pushing them off fast moving, high speed vehicles, often to their deaths. The morbidly celebrated case involving Miss Greatness Olorunfemi, is instructive.

Whereas she died under circumstances that call for an overhaul of the nation’s health system, there is hardly any controversy over the fact that it all resulted from the One-Chance phenomenon. It would therefore be a thing of joy if by divine providence or deliberate plan if Igweh and his team are able to particularly bring her killers to justice, the same way they did kidnap kingpins and their foot soldiers. The fact that none has been held over her case has left a sour taste in the mouth of both FCT residents and millions of Nigerians across the country.

It goes without saying therefore, that CP Igweh and his team still have a lot of work to do. But they will certainly receive a thunderous and rousing national ovation the moment Nigerians receive the news that Miss Olorunfemi's killers have been arrested. It would be the right icing on the command’s achievement dossier.

CP Igweh came into the FCT with a handy pedigree for his mission to rid the city of criminal elements. Fronting stints that stride Operation, Administrative and Intelligence units of the force, including policing experiences in several capacities, all of which made him a thorough-bred and highly operational officer, he is no doubt a round peg in an equally round hole.

In particular, his stint as Commander, Special Intervention Squad, SIS, a highly trained, tactical and mobile unit at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, where he also earned his mark for result-oriented and disciplined policing, tells much of the real story about his career.

Born on 7 October, 1968, CP Igweh, who hails from Akatta, Oru East Council Area, Imo state, attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu state, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Estate Management before proceeding to bag a Master’s degree in Business Management from the same university. However, his romance with the Nigerian Police began in 1996 when he was enlisted as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent. Thereafter, he was seconded to the prestigious Police Academy, Wudil, Kano state for training.

Here's good wishes to CP Benneth Igweh mni, and his team from Team FreshNews.