Egbetokun clarifies ‘I feel like a tiger’ remark, says he was anxious to start working

Kayode Egbetokun, acting inspector-general of police (IGP), says his statement about feeling ‘like a tiger’ was to convey his anxiousness to resume duty. 

Speaking after he was decorated with his new rank by Vice President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday, Egbetokun said he felt like a tiger ready to “devour Nigeria’s internal enemies”.

Clarifying the statement during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the new police chief said he was only conveying a message to the public about his knowledge of insecurity in Nigeria.

Egbetokun said his leadership of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) will collaborate with groups and bodies to fight insecurity. 

The acting IGP said he would devise both human and technical intelligence to tackle the country’s security challenges. 

“I said that just to express how very anxious I am to start working. And to also convey the message that I am aware that there are enemies that we need to fight together. If you listened to my speech I mentioned that we all need to collaborate to be able to surmount the security challenges facing our country today,” Egbetokun said

“So, it’s going to be our collective responsibility. Everybody is going to be involved. Everyone will be turned into a policeman. We are going to partner with every group. Every law-abiding citizen will have to be brought on board. You must give us the information. 

“Apart from technical intelligence, we will also rely so much on human intelligence which we believe is available within our communities. We are going to be proactive in our approach to solving our security problems.”

President Bola Tinubu on Monday approved the immediate retirement of Baba and all the other security chiefs.