The appointment of Frank Mba as Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), was approved by the Police Service Commission on Friday, June 16, 2023. Many have hailed the promotion as a positive development.
With 31 years of service to the Nigeria Police Force, Mba is a professional, refined, and highly experienced officer who has worked in all of the force’s strategic divisions of investigations, operations, administration, and public relations/communications. Ikechukwu Ani, a spokesman for the Police Service Commission, commented on the elevation and noted that Mba is now the most senior police officer from the nation’s South-East region.
Ani stated, “DIG Mba will replace retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police John Amadi, who before his retirement represented the zone, in the Police Executive Management Committee as the South-East zone representative.” Mba has been assigned to lead the force’s Department of Research and Planning.
Here are 10 aspects of the new Deputy Inspector General of Police that you should be aware of to fully appreciate him.
Mba, a cadet officer who joined the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in 1992, was born in Lagos State 51 years ago. He trained at the Nigeria Police Academy in Kano, graduating as the top cadet. He then started his career as a police officer, working his way up to his current position as Deputy Inspector General of Police.
Before being elevated from Inspector to ASP and then DSP in 1999 and 2003, the newly appointed Deputy Inspector-General of Police served seven years as an Inspector. After five years of dedication and hard work, MBA was promoted to an SP in 2008 and then to CSP in 2012. He received an ACP promotion in 2014 and a DCP promotion in 2018. MBA was promoted to CP status in December 2020. Three years later, he received his decoration as an Assistant Inspector-General of Police in March 2023.
He graduated from the University of Lagos in Akoka with an LLB (Law) degree. While attending the Nigerian Law School in Abuja, he received the Justice Kayode Eso Award for Best Student in Professional Ethics. In 2002, he was subsequently admitted to the Nigerian Bar. He also studied for his Master of Law (LLM) at the University of Dundee in Scotland, United Kingdom, graduating with Distinction in 2005. DIG Mba is also a distinguished graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, USA.
Additionally, he has a Harvard University (USA) Certificate in National and International Security. He successfully finished the Senior Executive Course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru-Jos, in 2022, and as a result, he is now a Member of the National Institute (mni). At the Oxford Business School of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, he also participated in the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme.
He has experience in several difficult Police Units and Departments in Nigeria, working in investigations, operations, administration, and public relations. He is an enthusiastic and adaptable officer. These include the Police Commissioner for Ogun State Command and the Police Commissioner in charge of the Border Patrol Force at Force Headquarters in Abuja’s Department of Operations.
Between 2006 and 2007, he was a member of the Nigeria Police Contingent to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia. He was also a three-time National Spokesman of the NPF and a recipient of the UN Medal.
Mba was the Area Commander for Area ‘J’ Ajah and Area ‘E’ Festac Town in Lagos State. He also served as the State Criminal Investigations Department’s (CID) Assistant Commissioner of Police at Panti-Yaba, Lagos. At various points in time and in various roles, he worked at the Zone XI Police Headquarters in Oshogbo, the State CID in Umuahia, the Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi, Lagos, and the Force CID Annex in Kaduna, among other places.
DIG Frank has participated in some of the best law enforcement education programmes inside and outside of Nigeria. These courses include: Managing the Media in Crisis Situations, School of Media and Communications, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos (2013); Crisis and Disaster Management Course, Galilee International Management Institute, Israel (2018); Strategic Leadership and Command Course, Police Staff College, Jos (2017); Countering Violent Extremism and Police Leadership Course at the International Law Enforcement Academy, Roswell, New Mexico, USA; and International Visitors Leadership Course.
He is a member of several organisations, including the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the Chartered Institute of Local Government and Public Administration of Nigeria (CILGPAN), the International Institute of Certified Forensic Investigation Professionals (CFIP), the FBI National Academy Associates Inc. (FBINAA), and the International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS).
He previously held the position of Assistant Inspector-General of Police in command of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Lagos Annex, Alagbon, Ikoyi – Lagos, before his assignment as the DIG in charge of Research and Planning.
