FG to recruit 10,000 policemen

TWO years after the last recruitment by the Nigeria Police Force, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday unveiled Federal Government’s plans to recruit fresh 10,000 policemen. Buhari, who spoke at the National Security Summit on Community Partnership Approach to Internal Security and Crime Management, organised by the police in Abuja, said the government would also establish a well-trained and equipped anti-terrorism and multi-agency based task force to address the challenge of insurgency in a sustainable manner. The PUNCH had exclusively reported a few weeks ago that the last recruitment by the force was in 2013 because the Force lacked funds. Buhari also said that efforts were being made to enhance the operational capacity of officers of the Nigeria Police through a training programme targeted at giving them the right civil orientation in performing their roles as guardians of the Constitution. At the summit, the President stated that the government was already considering the expansion of the Closed Circuit Television across major cities and towns in the country. He said, “It is in acknowledgement of this that I have identified youth empowerment as one of the cardinal objectives of our administration; in furtherance to this, the Federal Government is planning to employ at least an extra 10, 000 police officers and establish a properly trained and equipped federal anti-terrorism multi-agency task force that will effectively address the challenge of future insurgency in a sustainable manner. “In the meantime, efforts are being made to enhance the operational capacity of officers of the Nigeria Police through a tailor made training programme that will give them the right civil orientation in their roles as guardians of the constitution. “In order to further strengthen security of the public space, consideration is being given to the expansion of the CCTV monitoring system across major cities and towns in the country, while the police accountability mechanism will be strengthened.” In appreciation of the strategic roles of the citizens and the community in modern policing, the President stated that his administration would encourage states to look at states-level community interacting with police under a model that would integrate members of the community to policing functions at the grass-roots level. He commended the police leadership for dismantling roadblocks and deploying policemen in the highway to protect Nigerians. The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, called for funding of the Nigeria Police to ensure operational efficiency, stressing that it was only through adequate funding that the huge logistic demand of the police could be met. Arase noted that modern policing was a cost-intensive venture, which he said the benefits far outweighed the value of budgetary investment. “Through effective funding, the welfare needs of police personnel will be met and the challenge of corruption that has eroded professionalism and public respect for police will be addressed,” he said. He called for the resuscitation and passage of the Bill on Police Trust Fund pending before the National Assembly to enhance public-police partnership. The bill seeks to tax corporate entities to complement the Federal Government in funding the police. Arase maintained that if the bill was passed into law, the funding challenges of the police would be addressed on a sustainable basis. He said that the security challenges in the country and inadequate manpower would be best addressed through citizens-driven policing model.