The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the annual recruitment of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), News About Nigeria reports.
While addressing officers and men of the Police Command in Kwara State, Ilorin, during a one-day official visit yesterday, the IGP stated that the Force needs more policemen because the current personnel are shouldering the workload of two policemen.
He reiterated that President Tinubu had approved the annual recruitment of the police.
Egbetokun acknowledged the shortage of policemen in the command and pointed out that one policeman is doing the job of two.
He said, “A policeman will finish night duty and then commence morning duty. As he closes from morning duty, he resumes night duty. When he dozes off in public, his photograph is taken and posted to ridicule him. I’m aware of all these.”
The IGP further stated that he is making efforts to increase the strength of the police force.
He explained that recruitment is the way forward, and the police need to double the strength of its personnel in Nigeria. While acknowledging that this cannot be achieved overnight, he expressed confidence that it can be done gradually.
In addition, he assured the officers that there would be training to ensure the professionalism of the police force. Egbetokun also noted that he is addressing welfare concerns, including an increase in salary and improvements in other areas to enhance the lives of officers.
“Equipping the Police Force is a priority”, he said while assuring the officers that their insurance plan would be taken care of.
According to him, this initiative aims to increase the number of people working in the police force.
Earlier, Mike Okiro, the former Inspector General of Police (IGP), emphasized that transferring the police is not a good idea and that the root causes of past failures in the police force have not been addressed.
