A former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Muhammadu Dikko Yusufu, has died at 83 years old. A statement released today by the Nigeria Police Force disclosed that Mr. Yusufu died on April 1, 2015 after a brief illness.
Mr. Yusufu was promoted to the post of IGP in 1975, becoming the third Nigerian to be at the helm of the country’s law enforcement agency. He stayed in the office till 1979 when he retired.
The late IG was born on November 10, 1931 in Katsina, the current capital of Katsina State. “He was seconded into the Nigeria Police Force as an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in 1962 and later became Inspector-General of Police on Wednesday 30th July, 1975,” according to a statement signed by Emmanuel C.S. Ojukwu, the chief spokesman at the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja.
Mr. Yusufu attended Katsina Provincial School, Katsina, the School for Arabic Studies in Kano, and the Institute of Administration in Zaria. He also went to the Christ Church College at Oxford University in the UK.
The former IGP held two national honors, the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) and the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
Following his retirement from police service, Mr. Yusufu held numerous corporate, political and social positions, among them the chairmanship of a presidential committee on Nigeria Police Force reform. He was also a former chairman of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited from 1994. An active political figure, he expressed a desire to be elected as the president of Nigeria, earning the ticket as the presidential candidate of the Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM) and Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJ). He once served as the chairman of the Central Working Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a socio-cultural and political group that lobbies for the interests of northern Nigerians.
Mr. Yusufu is survived by a wife, several children and grandchildren.
The police statement disclosed that condolence registers had been opened both at the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja as well as the headquarters annex in Lagos.