An open ridicule of the serving Inspector General of Police, Mr. Etim Inyang by the military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida at an Armed Forces Ruling Council meeting in 1986 signposted a grim era of insecurity in the nation. Babangida reportedly asked Inyang, “My friend, where is Anini?” A taunt that apparently hastened the capture of the dreaded armed robber, Lawrence Anini who terrorized Benin City and environs. The derision of Inyang has the character of the self-inflicted controversies courted by the current Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotun Idris, who was only two years into his career as a policeman when Anini unleashed a four-month reign of terror. The urgency with which Babangida conveyed the need to rid the country of the Anini nuisance must have made a lasting impression on Idris who was 27 years (when he became a policeman) and still wet behind the ears. On becoming the Inspector General of Police 30 years later, he awaits the kind of insulting, ‘my friend, where is Anini?’ remark from President Muhammadu Buhari that would make him look stupid. Read more