Solomon Ehigiator Arase (born 21 June 1956) is a retired Nigerian police officer. He is currently the

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Nigeria Police Service Commission. He was appointed Chairman in January 2023 by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

. Arase also served as the 18th Inspector-General of Nigerian Police (IGP) after

Suleiman Abba Suleiman Abba (born 22 March 1959) is a retired Nigerian police officer who served as the 17th Inspector General of Police (Nigeria), Inspector General of Nigerian Police. He was appointed as acting IGP on 1 August 2014 by President Goodluck Jon ...

was sacked. Before his appointment as IGP, Arase was head of the topmost intelligence gathering unit of the Nigerian police, the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau.

Life and career

Arase was born on June 21, 1956, in Owan West Local Government ,

Edo state Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...

in Southern Nigeria. He attended

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...

for his undergraduate studies and graduated with political science degree in 1980. He was recruited into the Nigerian Police a year after on December 1, 1981. He also obtained another bachelor's degree in Law from University of Benin as well as Masters from

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

. While in Police service, Arase served in various capacities including being Commissioner of Police in

Akwa Ibom State Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Iboe ...

as well as serving intelligence gathering unit as Assistant Inspector General. He is a Fellow of the

Nigerian Defence Academy The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration of t ...

and had served in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

during the United Nations peacekeeping operation. Arase retired from the force on June 21, 2016. On June 21, 2016, President

appointed Ibrahim Kpotum Idris as Acting Inspector General of the

Nigeria Police Force The Nigeria Police Force is the principal law enforcement and the lead security agency in Nigeria. Designated by the 1999 constitution as the national police of Nigeria with exclusive jurisdiction throughout the country, as at 2016 it has a s ...

. After his retirement from Police service, Arase was appointed Chairman of a Task Force responsible for the implementation of a state Anti-Community Development Association Law in Edo State. Arase dedicated his post-retirement undertakings to legal practice, Security Consultancy with organizations such as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the European Centre for Electoral Support, the Human Rights Centre at the University of Oslo, Public Speaking, Research and other Academic engagements. He is a member of the Committee on Prevention of Torture, Geneva Switzerland currently developing a universal protocol on Investigative Techniques. On January 24, 2023, Arase was appointed Chairman of the Nigeria Police Service Commission by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Awards

In October 2022, a Nigerian national honour of

Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic The Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) is one of two orders of merit, established by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger. The highest honours where the Grand Commander in the Order of the Federal R ...

(CFR) was conferred on him by President

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arase, Solomon Nigerian police officers People from Delta State People from Edo State Ahmadu Bello University alumni 1956 births Living people