Fight Against Boko Haram Suffers A Set Back As Zakari Biu Is Reinstated .

If there is any society that is guilty of treating it's History with 'Laxity'then the Nigerian Society will not be far from that. In Nigeria, history is something absurd, we only revert back to it when the evil deed is done. Nigerians and it's leaders are always
reactive instead of being proactive and only react after they have been burnt or hurt (Fire Brigade Approach). If only we can take our history seriously and make it a fundamental part of national planning and development then a lot of catastrophes would have been easily avoided. It was announced last weekend that the Nigerian Police  Service Council had reinstated a sacked and retired Commossioner of Police Zakari Biu and accorded him his full pension and benefits after retirement. This is unheard of in sane countries and it is no surprise that the committee was chaired by no one,  but the ex Inspector General of Police Mr Mike Okiro who achieved nothing at the helm of the police force . Biu is the Police Commissioner of CID Zone 7, who conspired and allowed Kabiru Sokoto to escape from prison. Sokoto is a Boko Haram member  and suspected master mind of the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa's Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State which claimed more than 40 lives. Sokoto and Biu all hail from the same Borno State and Sokoto escaped when Biu sent only 4 police men to accompany him to his  (Sokoto) Abaji residence before the police men were attacked by Boko Haram suspects who freed Sokoto. Biu was tried by the Police Service Commission and indicted and sacked after that incident. This was the second sacking of Biu as he was sacked by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, immediately he assumed office but was reinstated only to be sacked again by the Jonathan government and reinstated by the Buhari government last week. Biu is therefore the only high ranking officer to have been sacked and reinstated twice by several governments in Nigeria.

This is a bad way to fight Boko Haram and reinstating sacked officers like Biu only adds to the belief that the fight against Insurgencg is only mere words and no action by the present administration. Biu by all accounts shouldn't be roaming the streets a free man, if not for the rot in our judicial system that only gets worse each passing day . Not only should he be sacked , he should be awaiting trial for both the bomb blast homicides of two Nigerians during the Sani Abacha regime and Apo Six killing in Obasanjo's regime. Nigerians are watching and know that this present government promised a lot but delivering little and is busy reinstating past criminals who have only worsened the society . There is no basis for the reinstatement of Biu rather it smells of high political manoeuvring. People like Mike Okiro who did little but worsen the Nigerian Police Force should be ashamed of this development. The Inspector General of Policeshould also share some blame in that such shameful act was done during his reign.  

For people who don't know Zakari Biu, I will take the pain and time to introduce him to you . Zakari Biu was the Assistant Commissioner of Police and the number  1 suspect in the deaths of Mr Omatsola and Mr Kaltho who were killed in bomb blasts in his car for the former and  hotel bathroom for the later during the General Abacha Government. Professor Wole Soyinka had this to say about Biu "There's no reason why somebody like Zakari Biu cannot be co-opted by the al-Qaeda because , obviously , he has no concern for humanity. He's a complete brute . You know , he can torture. I can see Zakari Biu happily strapping a bomb on himself and blowing up a passenger plane."


Bagauda Kaltho was a journalist working for TheNews magazine linked to NADECO while Dr Sola Omatsola was the former Chief Security Officer of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. Biu appeared before the Oputa Panel and alleged that Omatsola was killed while examining a bomb he was about to plant, while the then Commissioner of Police in Lagos State alleged that Omatsola had a call and went out of his office to answer the call inside the car and the bomb went off. Also Biu was the police officer who ordered his men to shoot and kill the six Igbo traders (Apo Six) for making passes at the same girl with him even though he already had 3 wives then . One is still shocked how the Judicial system has been unable to convict such a brute and how he has escaped each time.


With all these in his resume,  one wonders how on earth Biu was made a Commissioner of Police at the first place and has been able to resist sack all these years . It is clear that he is backed by a powerful faceless cabal and this only shows the ugly state of the Nigerian Society. Reinstating a Criminal and brute is not therefore the change promised Nigerians by the APC during the last campaign but it is imperative to know that it may be their own definition of change . Nigerians are watching and cannot be fooled again .