As a student activist, I disliked the Police – Former IGP

Mike Okiro, a former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), has revealed that his dream while growing up was not to join the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Speaking during an interview with TheSun to mark his 75th birthday, Okiro, who served as the 13th IGP, said joining the police was a miracle.

According to him, his hatred for the police force grew when he became a student activist as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan (UI).

Okiro, who was the chairman, Police Service Commission (PCC), said his team often had an encounter with the police, adding that they were always prevented from doing what they thought was right.

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He said: “That I grow up to be an IGP is by God’s grace. That I equally joined the police was something out of the ordinary. Because as a young man growing up, I never had an encounter with the police. We saw the police from a distance.

“My father was a civil servant. When I became a student in university, one of the people I hated the most was the police. Why? because I was a student activist. I believed in taking active action in student activities. Often then we had an encounter with the police and I did not like the police at all because they were always preventing us from doing what we thought was right to do.

“They were always preventing us from protesting against domination and injustice. So, I did not like the police. But here I am now. I joined the police out of curiosity and adventure. I became the IG by God’s providence and blessing. I retired after 60 years of age. It is the mandatory age for retirement. Here I am now at 75.”