By Odita Sunday
Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Monday Agbonika has assumed duty as the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5 Headquarters, Benin City, succeeding AIG Salman-Dogo Garba, who recently retired from the Nigeria Police Force.
Zone 5 comprises the Edo and Delta State Police Commands.
According to a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 5 Headquarters, SP Tijani A. Momoh, Agbonika officially took over the leadership of the Zone following his deployment by the Inspector-General of Police.
A native of Idah Local Government Area of Kogi State, Agbonika enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police on May 18, 1992, and trained at the Nigeria Police Academy Annex in Kaduna.
He holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Jos, a Master’s degree in Security and Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies at the same institution.
The new Zonal Police boss is also a Fellow of the National Defence College and the Society for Peace Studies and Practice.
Before his appointment, Agbonika served as Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, until his promotion to the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police in May 2026.
During his over three decades in the Force, he served in several strategic positions, including Commissioner of Police, Mounted Troop, Force Headquarters, Abuja; Officer in Charge of the Anti-Robbery Squad in Plateau State; head of the Anti-Fraud Section of the Zonal Criminal Investigation Department, Zone 2, Lagos; and Divisional Police Officer in Festac, Surulere, Oke-Odo, Isokoko and Adeniji Adele divisions in Lagos State.
He also served as Area Commander in Ekiti, Lagos and Ogun states.
The statement noted that Agbonika has extensive international policing experience, having served as Public Information Officer with the United Nations Police Mission in Liberia, where he worked with officers from more than 39 countries and contributed to the drafting of the Liberian National Police Media Policy.
He also participated in a 2015 United States Institute of Peace workshop in Washington, D.C., on community policing strategies for countering violent extremism and is an alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on the role of state police in the U.S. criminal justice system.
Throughout his career, Agbonika has received several commendations and awards for courage, professionalism and community policing, including the Commissioner of Police’s Award for Courage in Plateau State and recognition for operating one of Africa’s most people-friendly police stations.
The new AIG appealed to residents of Edo and Delta states to support the police with credible and timely information to enhance efforts at tackling crime and criminality across the Zone.
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