*Insists crime has no tribe as he briefs President

*Says Kogi crisis not kidnappers but militants

“Like I said earlier, we have deployed a special squad to Benue and we are surely going to get that Ghana within a short time…I think we are all in this country. The crisis in Kogi axis is not kidnapping. It’s a case of militants wanting to disrupt the peace in that state and we are out to get them”, he said.

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, Friday briefed President Muhammadu Buhari and justified the arrest of only suspects of Yoruba extraction over the recent bloody clash in Ile-Ife, Osun State,

Individuals and groups including the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group Afenifere and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) had been flaying the police for arresting and parading 20 Yoruba suspects without apprehending a single Hausa/Fulani over the violence.

But addressing State House reporters Friday after meeting behind closed-doors with President Buhari, the IGP noted that crime had neither tribe nor identity.

On why the police seem to always wait for crisis before reacting, he said: “You know we are police officers. Crime has no tribe. If you are a criminal you are a criminal. Crime has no face.  We don’t look at crime in the identity of where you are coming from.  As far as you are a criminal and the police find you wanting, we apply the law.

“You know some of these crises, we have to look at the origin of these crises and the immediate cause for you to make a proper classification of these crimes. If you follow some of these crimes, they are just crimes that happened without any warning. If you look at that Ife crisis, if you see how it started, it’s just a disagreement between two people selling food along the road.

“So, you have to look at the dynamics of the country itself. Obviously when you have such situation we have to react to it. We had to move in to ensure we provide some security to the people.”

Idris, who noted that he updated Buhari on efforts to provide security all over Nigeria, said: “Obviously, it’s to share with him our deployment strategies on ground, our deployment to some of these flashpoints all over the country, especially Benue which is the current one, deployment to Kaduna State which started some few weeks back and deployment to the Ile-Ife crisis where recently, we have a lot of police officers both special squads and investigation team on ground to conduct investigation on the matter.”

Speaking on Benue State security the IGP Idrsis said, “We deployed mobile police unit on 16th of this month and of recent that incident that happened at Zaki Biam there are allegations on that Ghana one of the wanted men. This man has been on the police wanted list. I now decided to deploy some special unit both investigative to go after him and get him by all means, like I said earlier definitely that man we are going to get.

“No, I don’t think it’s fulani herdsmen. It was an activity of a criminal who is using some of his criminal gangs in the state to harass people and  on that, I have assured the governor when I met with him few days ago.

“Obviously, there should be a specific directive to ensure that all of us use all the facilities at our disposal to make sure that some of these incidents we are talking about are brought under control as soon as possible.

“I gave the President my assurance that we are going to do that. Like I said earlier, we have deplored a special squad to Benue and we are surely going to get that Ghana within a short time.”

The IGP also said that crisis in Kogi was the handiwork of militants and not kidnappers.

“I think we are all in this country. The crisis in Kogi axis is not kidnapping. It’s a case of militants wanting to disrupt the peace in that state and we are out to get them”, he said.