The Federal Government has approved the recruitment of 10,000 policemen every year to address the shortfall in the numerical capacity of the Force.
The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris explained that the recruitment was necessary to strengthen the operational efficiency of the police to combat crime in the country.
He said this during the monthly IG conference with senior police officers on Wednesday at the Force headquarters, Abuja, shortly after receiving Insps. Amina Wilfred and Rachael Danjuma for winning the 19th IBB Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship.
The IG called for better funding for the police, saying the nation needed to address the parlous financial standing of the force for enhanced operational efficiency.
He said, “We can succeed in community policing when we address the ratio of one policeman to 400 citizens. Recruitment of rank and file had been stopped and there is no where you can have an effective police if you don’t have enough policemen to police the population and that is one of the areas we are addressing now.
“This administration has come up with the recruitment of 10,000 police officers and we are going to ensure, because the President has given us approval, every year we are going to address this 10,000 policemen and these strategic issues we need to address to be able to tackle effectively the efficiency of the Nigeria Police Force.”
The IG called on the National Assembly to speedily pass the security trust fund bill to ensure adequate funding of police operations.
Idris expressed concern over the increasing spate of kidnappings across the country, stressing that it was beyond what the police alone could handle.
He added that the police were planning a security summit in which all stakeholders would be requested to collaborate with the Force to address the challenge.
The police boss stated that his men had successfully arrested the suspects involved in major kidnapping operations across the country, noting that the focus now was on their prosecution.
“It (kidnapping) is becoming a worrisome situation and that is why we are now trying to mobilize all sectors of the community so that we can sit down and address this issue of kidnapping. It goes beyond the issue of police, it has gone beyond the role of community leaders, it has gone to the level of the roles of religious leaders, even to the kind of schools we leave our children,” Idris asserted.
He disclosed that the Force planned to establish more Mobile Police squadrons in many states, adding that he had received requests to set up more riot police units in Plateau, Taraba, Enugu and Cross River State to curb robberies, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
The IG said he would soon visit the states to inaugurate the squadrons.
He solicited the support of the state governors.
