Media Talk Africa: Latest Headlines in Politics, Business, Sports, and More

A photo of a repentant thug from Kano State, Nasiru Abdullahi, popularly known as Chile Maidoki, allegedly in the Police Training School, has ignited a wave of controversy.

The trending pictures on X show Mr. Abdullahi dressed in full police uniform, posing alongside the spokesperson of Kano State Police Command, Abdullahi Haruna-Kiyawa, and other senior police officers.

Reportedly, the repentant criminal is among the 10,000 individuals currently undergoing a six-month-long training exercise to become special police constables.

In August, Mr. Abdullahi and two other notorious kingpins were declared wanted by the Kano State Command, with a bounty of N100,000 each. However, a few days later, he voluntarily turned himself in at the command headquarters.

An official statement by Mr. Kiyawa revealed that Mr. Abdullahi expressed remorse, apologized to the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Gumel, and sought forgiveness for his heinous crimes.

While the special constabulary program falls under the voluntary umbrella of the police, some Nigerians raised concerns on the microblogging platform X, questioning the decision to enlist a former criminal with a troubled past.

Reacting to a post by Chief Ikuoma, @PhilipCKO commented: “How on earth do you reward impunity, criminals, and thugs with opportunities like this?!”

@daniel_doola expressed skepticism, writing: “I’m patiently waiting for the @PoliceNG to come up with lies about this.”

Another user, @Eniola Oroale, remarked: “Surviving in this country cannot be based on emotions; it has to be strategic. The events constantly unfolding here are almost fictional. It’s amusing, but one has to be creative to survive.”

@Ogunmusi added: “He followed the legal route to become a criminal. Congratulations to him. Now he can finally get away with his crimes.”

@GariAkpos commented, saying: “He finally has the chance to work with his senior colleagues. Congratulations to you, Chile.”

Providing a different opinion, @admarmara justified the alleged employment, stating: “Sadly, no one here is from Kano to set the records straight!

“Nasiru Abdullahi is notorious only for gang fights, and the police compiled a list asking them to repent or face the consequences. 13 out of 15 repented and have now been reoriented to assist the force as supervised constabularies.”

Efforts to obtain a response from the spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, Haruna Abdullahi Kiyawa, were unsuccessful, as calls and messages sent to his line went unanswered at the time of filing this report.