Buhari: Police workforce must be increased… we’ve set yearly recruitment targets

President Muhammadu Buhari says the federal government has set yearly recruitment targets for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Buhari said this on Tuesday, at the commissioning ceremony of the special protection unit (SPU) base 6 barracks of the NPF, at Omagwa, in Rivers state.

Buhari, who was represented by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, spoke on efforts by his administration to reform the police, adding that more police barracks would be constructed across the country.

“Today’s event meets two objectives. First, it is an important part of our efforts to improve the lives and livelihoods of our police officers, and it is also another important milestone in my administration’s pursuit of the peace, prosperity and development of the Niger Delta,” he was quoted as saying according to a statement by Laolu Akande, spokesperson to the vice-president.

“We recognise that establishing adequate security is absolutely integral to the fulfillment of this objective, which is why we have committed significant resources to projects such as we are about to commission.

“They are the civil force, the closest to the people in the various communities. In the past months, we have been undertaking a major reform of the police.

“First, we believe that we must increase the number of police personnel. So, we have set yearly recruitment targets. We also are in the process of re-equipping our personnel, both in personal gear and hardware. An important feature of the reform is accommodation for men and officers.

“I have directed that the building of barracks should be done in collaboration with the social housing effort of the Family Homes Fund. This will ensure speed in execution.

“Funding of the police force remains a huge challenge, which is why we worked with the national assembly to enact the Police Trust Fund Act. We are also looking at other measures to improve funding for the police.”