Fakorede urged to remain focused on war against insecurity

By Ibrahim Bakare

Head of the Inspector General of Police Monitoring Unit in Abuja and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Akin Victor Fakorede has been advised to continue to remain focused in the fight against insecurity and heinous crimes in the country.

The advice was given by a group known as Friends of Akin Fakorede (FAF) which observed that the gallant cop was always haunted and threatened by criminals, both within and outside the Police circle because of his rising and intimidating profile.

FAF noted that Fakorede’s exploits have made him a target of attack by criminals and have attracted envy towards him from colleagues.

“He so much puts politicians on their toes and refuses their overtures thereby maintaining the integrity of his professional callings.”

The group was reacting to reports against ACP Akin Fakorede by some online newspapers on December 11, describing the reports as “false, sponsored and unprofessional, aimed at tarnishing and denigrating the character and reputation of a hardworking Police officer.”

FAF, in a statement circulated in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Saturday stated that they never wanted to dignify the false reports with a response because they perceived it as a collaboration between inside and outside sources to tarnish his Fakorede’s reputation.

It noted that it was necessary to point out some flaws in the reports and the fact that such publications ended up exposing “the detractors, and by implications the real sponsors of insecurity and criminality in our society.”

The statement, captioned “false and defamatory publications against ACP Akin Fakorede”, dated December 19, 2024, and signed by Dr Okorieem Mente and Chief Idunga Omiete, Chairman and Secretary of FAF respectively stated that these detractors “will stop at nothing to either sack him or put him out of circulation for performing his official duties.”

The statement further stressed that in Anambra State, Fakorede’s uncompromising nature made the state a no-go area for criminals.

“On his arrival at Awka, he was assigned to take charge of the command’s Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) where he came into contact with one Ozo Jeff Nweke, a notorious land grabber in Awka and founder of a private security outfit known as Blue Shield Security Company.

“The then Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye on 23rd November 2023 issued a press statement where he stated that ACP Fakorede busted and exposed the nebulous activities of Ozo Nweke, who was alleged to be sponsoring cult groups against one another to cause insecurity in the state.

“ACP Akin Victor Fakorede and his officers refused several financial inducements of Nweke and did his job by exposing the suspect, irrespective of his social status in Awka. Today, Ozo Jeff Nweke and operatives of his company have been charged to court in three different cases, one at the Federal High Court and two at the State High Court,” FAF recalled in the statement.

It described the said published reports as unprofessional and unbalanced.

“The publishers of the reports, in a view to pleasing its paymasters, forgot to adhere to the basic Journalism ethics of giving the right of reply to an accused person and the confirmation of all crimes from the appropriate authorities.

“Neither did they play around it, as often done professionally by saying that ‘when contacted, or all efforts to contact him or her proved abortive as at press time’. They neither contacted ACP Akin Fakorede for his comments nor the police authorities for confirmation of the series of allegations they chronicled against him in their reports.

“They also forgot that none of those allegations against him are before any competent Court of law anywhere in the country. Our statute books say a person is innocent until found guilty by a law court.

“The reports only chronicled indictments and recommendations by panels and commissions, which are not competent courts of law. He was equally exonerated in most of those allegations by the investigating panels and commissions,” the statement went on.

FAF also pointed out other flaws in the reports, cited inaccuracies in dates, particularly the 2015 general elections and concluded by advising Fakorede to remain focused on the performance of his job, adding that they were the least unsurprised at the tantrums being thrown at him, saying “only a tree with succulent fruits attracts stones from little children.”

It would be recalled that after the disbandment of the defunct SARS, Fakorede was transferred from Rivers State to various commands, serving in Brini-Gwari Area Command in Kaduna State from 2019 to 2021, Zone 13 in Anambra State from 2021 to 2023, and most recently at the Anambra State Criminal Investigations Department in 2024 before his recent posting to head the IGP Monitoring Unit in Abuja.

FAF concluded the press statement with a warning to the detractors of Fakorede to desist from their campaign of calumny against “this rising super cop who is giving some form of credibility to our security agencies before the international community.”