FG to recruit 10, 000 police officers

‎With a view to checking crime and boosting police architecture, President Muhammadu Buhari says his government will employ 10, 000 police officers and expand closed-circuit television (CCTV) system across major cities in the country.

Speaking at the national security summit in Abuja on Monday, Buhari also said his government was mindful of the challenges confronting the police; hence his decision to create a strong structure for it by retraining its officers.

“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,” he said.

” 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 the 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.

“Above all, in appreciation of the strategic role of the citizens and the community in modern policing, this administration will encourage states to look at state-level community inter-acting with police under a model that will integrate members of the community to policing functions at the grassroots level.

“In addition, I also note the commitment of the force leadership to uphold and enforce chapter IV of the constitution and commit officers of the force to the adherence to all United Nations and African Union Charters and other regional global instruments on human rights while also introducing alternative dispute resolution procedures to policing functions.

“Furthermore, it is the policy thrust of the inspector-general of police which discourages pre-trial detention of citizens while encouraging the practice of intelligence-led crime detection.‎

“These initiatives, if properly implemented, will undoubtedly address those factors that threaten public confidence in the Police and hence, create good grounds for the practice of community-led policing to flourish. I am tasking the police not only to ‘say’ but to ‘do’ as we are promising to Nigerians.”‎