The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to recruit additional 50,000 persons into the force.
According to the police boss, the call for recruitment became imperative to attain the UN requirement of 1 police officer to 400 citizens of a country.
Idris made this plea while speaking at the opening ceremony of 2017 national security summit on farmers-pastoralist clashes, kidnapping and other forms of violent crimes and bank security in Nigeria.
He recalled that the police had not conducted any recruitment since 2011 until last year when the presidency approved the recruitment of 10,000 officers.
He said, “Another critical challenge presently facing the Nigeria Police Force is the issue of shortfall in Police personnel to police the entire Country.
“It is imperative to recall that since 2011, the Nigeria Police Force has not conducted recruitment into its ranks and File cadre of the Force, until 2016, when the President and Commander -In-Chief graciously approved the recruitment of Ten Thousand (10,000) young Nigerians into the Force.
“The absence of recruitment of able bodied Nigerians between the years 2011 – 2016 has left a huge gap in the manpower need of the Force due to attrition as a result of retirements, death and resignations.
“To bridge this gap, and to attain the UN ratio requirement of 1 Police Officer to 400 citizens of a Country, the Nigeria Police Force need to recruit additional One Hundred and FIFTY Five Thousand (155,000) officers to police Nigerian population of approximately One Hundred and Eighty Two Million (182,000,000) citizens.
“Consequently if this requirement is taken into consideration, the Force needs to recruit at least Thirty One Thousand (31,000) Police Officers yearly for period of at least Five (5) years from now. This recommendation has been forwarded for consideration of the Federal Government.
“In the area of professionalization of its special Units which are necessary for most operations, the present Police management has laid out some plans to address this challenge in the ongoing Police internal re-organisation.
“We have laid out plans to establish more specialised training institution to address issue of specialisation within the force in order to enhance operational efficiency and competence.”