The Nigerian Police Force will soon embark on the recruitment of more personnel into the force, in order to address the shortage of manpower in the Force.
This follows the resolution of the conflict between the Police Service Commission and the police hierarchy over who should be responsible for the recruitment of personnel into the force.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba, who made the disclosure in Minna, the Niger state capital, yesterday, when he addressed officers and men of the state command, however, did not give details of the resolution of the dispute which impeded the recruitment of over 10,000 policemen into the force for over one year now.
He said now that the dispute is over, recruitment into the force will soon commence, adding that between now and 2022, not less than 20,000 men will be engaged into the force, to boost its manpower.
“Our problem with the Police Service Commission on who recruits is over; the recruitment which we started in 2020 will be completed soon.
“By 2020, 20,000 men would have been added to the force,” the IGP added.
He also disclosed that training and retraining of officers and men of the force will now be given top priority, even as he said the police colleges will now be made more functional, submitting that trainees in the colleges “will now eat and sleep there”.
Baba also disclosed that he is a member of a national committee looking into the accommodation of policemen, pointing out that the committee has decided that not less than 1,500 houses would be provided for the police ” between now and next year.”
He also revealed that a committee is presently reviewing police pensions and welfare of officers and men, insisting that “we will work on our emoluments, pensions and logistics.
“There will be a change. We will give you uniforms which you were not getting before; officers will buy uniforms, rank and file will also get shoes and berets.”
He, therefore, urged the policemen to be very prayerful for all these plans to materialise, because, according to him, “the police have too many enemies; if you are regulating human conduct, people will not like you, therefore, you must pray for the job.”
Earlier, while exchanging views with the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, during a courtesy visit to the IGP, urged parents to encourage their “sons and daughters” to join the Nigeria Police Force, describing the organisation as an honourable one.
The police boss told the Niger state governor, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Mohammed Ahmed Ketso, that parents should allow their children to join the force because it (Force) is providing social service in the country.
He also urged state governors “to take leadership roles in community policing, because it (community policing) is for young men and women.”
Governor Bello, in his remarks, acknowledged the role being played by the police in crime prevention and, especially, curbing banditry and kidnapping in the state, and promised to always support all the security agencies in the state, to enable them perform their constitutional roles to the optimum.
