DIG Joseph Egbunike Slumps, Dies From Health Complications

Joseph Egbunike, a Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), has died.

Egbunike died in Abuja in the late hours of Tuesday.

A source at the Force Headquarters told The Lawyer that Egbunike was obese, a condition he managed for years with a combination of measures.

Until his death, Egbunike headed the Special Investigation Panel that investigated the suspended Abba Kyari, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), over his alleged involvement in fraud.

Mr Egbunike’s Federal Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID) is widely seen as the most powerful and preoccupied police department.

A spokesman for the police did not immediately return a request for comments about the development.

Until being appointed DIG in late 2020, Mr Egbunike had worked for several years as the head of the police finance department. In his former role as Commissioner of Police in charge of budget and finance at the Force headquarters, Egbunike joined other police chiefs to approve more than N1billion for sham police transit camps project in Benue, Bauchi, Plateau, Katsina and Kano State.

He was a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with B.sc (Hons) Accounting, he also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons.), B.L. and a Masters in International Law and Diplomacy (MILD) and PhD in Criminology.

He was a member of various professional bodies including: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); Association of National Accountant of Nigeria (ANAN); Nigeria Bar Association (NBA); Member, Institute of Cost Management (ICM); Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM); and Member, Chartered Institute of Fraud Examiners.