To Secure Lives & Properties, IGP Ibrahim Idris Says Police Needs To Hire 31,000 Officers Per Year For The Next 5years

To secure lives and property and also meet the United Nations (UN) approved ratio of one officer to 400 citizens, the Police must recruit 155, 000 more officers, Inspector-General (IGP) Ibrahim Idris said yesterday.

He spoke at the opening of the yearly National Security Summit in Abuja. The theme is “Forging partnerships for effective strategies to curb the menace of kidnapping, recurring farmers- herders clashes and criminality in Nigeria”.

The participants include: Governors Nasri El-Rufai (Kaduna); Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe); Interior Minister Abdulraman Dambazau; Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwunsi; Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, Emir of Ilorin Ibrahim Gambari, Summit Planning Committee member, Prof Joseph Golwa and representatives of service chiefs and Commissioners of Police from states affected by armed crimes.

According to Idris, the police will have to hire 31,000 officers per year for the next five years to bridge the gap. He blamed the shortfall on non-recruitment into the rank and file cadre of the force between 2011 and 2016.

Idris said that within the period, the police suffered attrition as a result of retirements, death and resignation of personnel.

He said: “The absence of recruitment of able bodied Nigerians between 2011 and 2016 has left a huge gap in the manpower need of the force due to attrition as a result of retirements, death and resignation.

“To bridge this gap and attain the United Nations ratio requirement of one police officer to 400 citizens of a country, the Nigeria Police need to recruit additional 155 thousand officers to police the country’s population of approximately 182 million citizens.

“If this requirement is taken into consideration, the police need to recruit at least 31,000 police officers yearly for the period of at least five years from now. This recommendation has been forwarded for consideration of the federal government.”

Idris also lamented the poor funding of the police, restating the call for the passage of the Nigeria Police Region Trust Fund (Establishment) Bill, which has been in the National Assembly (NASS) since 2008.

“The issue of police funding has been critical to all past reforms panels since 19994, 2002, 2008 and 2015. However, the issue is yet to be critically addressed. So far, the best approach to funding of the police is the Bill which was table before the National Assembly in 2008 and is yet to be passed till date.

“The force is hereby soliciting the support and understanding of our National Assembly to give accelerated hearing to this bill so as to adequately position the police for better funding to enable the force discharge its statutory responsibilities effectively and efficiently.

“It would further provide a legal framework that would outline the counterpart funding arrangements between the federal government, states, local government and organised private sector.

“When the bill is passed, the police would be funded through a first line charge on the Federation Account quarterly from the sources indicated above.”

The IG said that there has been a lot of improvement in national security since President Muhammadu Buhari’s assumed office two years ago.

“Within available resources, the police, in collaboration with other security agencies have been able to stabilise the polity. Huge successes were recorded in the fight against kidnapping and other violent crimes nationwide,” Idris said.

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