Former IGP Balogun dies at 74
By Ridwan Adekunle
A former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tafa Balogun, is dead at age 74 after a brief illness.
The former IGP who was jailed for fraud would have been 75 years on August 25, 2022.
Balogun was born on August 8, 1947, at Ila-Orangun in Osun State and was named the 21st Inspector-General of Police on March 6, 2002.
Tafa, who attended the University of Lagos, graduating in 1972 with a B.A. in Political Science, joined the Nigeria Police Force in May 1973 and was later appointed as the Inspector General of the Nigerian Police in March 2002 and was forced to retire because of widespread charges of corruption in January 2005.
While a police officer, he gained a law degree from the University of Ibadan. After working in various positions around the country, he became Principal Staff Officer to former Inspector-General of Police, Muhammadu Gambo, then Deputy Commissioner of Police in Edo State, and then Commissioner of Police first in Delta State and then in Rivers State and Abia State.
He was appointed Assistant Inspector General of Police in A.I.G Zone One Kano, the position he held when promoted to Inspector General of Police on 6 March 2002, replacing Musiliu Smith.
He was responsible for overall police security during the April 2003 national elections, which were marred by reports of police abuses.
In August 2003, Tafa Balogun presented a paper on “Nigeria: Electoral Violence and National Security” in which he advocated improvements such as use of national identity cards, mass education, electoral law reforms, citizens participation in politics, good governance and establishment of a constitutional court.
Towards the end of 2004, newspapers published allegations of corruption on a massive scale, asserting that Tafa Balogun had pocketed public money and taken bribes from politicians and criminals. These led to his forced retirement in January 2005.
On 4 April 2005, Tafa Balogun was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Abuja on charges involving about N13 billion obtained through money laundering, theft and other sources.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission under Nuhu Ribadu brought 70 charges against Tafa Balogun covering the period from 2002 to 2004.
He made a plea bargain with the court in exchange for returning much of the property and money. He was sentenced to six months in jail.
He was released on 9 February 2006 after serving his sentence, part of it in Abuja National Hospital.
Sources, including from his family, confirmed Balogun’s death. He reportedly died in an unnamed Lagos hospital on Thursday.
