Human rights groups and residents of Onitsha have hailed the Police Service Commission for the recent promotion of the outgone Divisional Police Officer, in charge of the Central Police Station, Onitsha, Anambra State, Rabiu Garba.
Garba was among the three Chief Superintendents of Police recently promoted to Assistant Commissioners of Police from Anambra State Command and 51 from all parts of the country.
Reacting to the development in Onitsha, on Monday, human rights groups, including the Campaign for Democracy, the Human Rights and Liberty Access and Peace Defendants Foundation, and some notable Onitsha residents said Garba made a meaningful impact in terms of policing, securing lives and property in Onitsha and its environs.
Chairman of Anambra State CD, Comrade Elene Nnadi, described Garba as a man of the people, who knows his onions when it comes to the discharge of his duties as a police officer.
Nnadi said, “Garba is a blessed, transparent, accessible, and hardworking officer who does not trample upon peoples’ rights and privileges. His picture of toeing the line of law and order and respect for people’s fundamental rights endeared him to the people.”
Also, the Executive Director of HURIDE, Dede Uzor A. Uzor, said Garba left an indelible record as a police officer during his 10-year sojourn in Anambra State.
Uzor expressed optimism that based on his positive footprints, the residents would want him to come back to Anambra on a second ‘missionary’ journey but in a higher capacity as Commissioner of Police.
He maintained that Garba has made meaningful impacts on the lives of many people as well as promoted unity among the masses at Fegge Police Division and CPS all in the commercial city of Onitsha, where he served as DPO.
He added, “We urged the PSC to post him within Anambra State to continue with his good works, we also urged Garba not to allow his new rank to swell his head and tarnish his hard-earned reverted reputation.”
Meanwhile, the outgoing DPO of Onitsha Central Police Station, Garba, said that Ndigbo and Anambra people lavished love on him in his 15 years of service in the South-East.
He said the enormity of love showered on him has erased any iota of ethnicity and primordial sentiment in his relationship with people, whether in his official or private capacities.
Speaking amidst the euphoria of his decoration as ACP, Garba said Ndigbo showed him love beyond measure, even beyond what his people in Bauchi State would have shown him.
He said, “The height of the love was during the #EndSARs protest when other officers and policemen were being hunted to be butchered and police stations across the nation were being torched, the same people protected me, my officers and the Fegge Police Station where I served then.”
The new ACP in charge of the X Department of Kaduna State Police Command said members of Fegge community in Onitsha, volunteered to protect the police station during the protests.
He said, “The residents were cooking at the station, while some kept vigil throughout the nights and made bonfires as a way of keeping awake and ensuring that no attack happened to the police facility.
“On the day I was carried shoulder high by the same protesters who were attacking police stations, I simply said my last prayers. I went to the land of the dead and returned; and when they dropped me and I returned to my office, it was like I resurrected from the dead.”
Garba recalled two grandparents from Enugu State, who came to Onitsha to give him N4,000 as an appreciation for donating blood to their grandson at Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, adding that he was touched by their show of appreciation and gave them a generating set, saying that he donated blood to save the young man since it did not pose any threat to his health.
He recalled that another woman carried a bunch of plantain from Owerri in Imo State to him at Fegge when he was DPO there.
He said these were just a few of the shows of love showered on him by the people while he served in Anambra State.
But he was quick to point out that in showing human face in his work, he does not in any way compromise his official duty, rather he ensured that crime and criminality were eradicated or reduced to the barest minimum.
Garba said he was fair but firm, saying that he does not spare any criminal anywhere he is found.
The officer, who was decorated at Zone 13 Police Command Ukpo, Anambra State, said leaving Anambra State was difficult for him, but he had to go to serve the Police and the country in another place.
Garba enjoined his friends and admirers to continue to extend hands of fellowship to his colleagues and the entire Police community in Anambra State.
