Federal Government of Nigeria says it has set yearly recruitment targets for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
Gatekeepers News reports that President Muhammadu Buhari said the recruitment targets was part of his administration’s commitment to reform the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
President Buhari who was represented by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo made this known at the commissioning ceremony of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) base 6 barracks of the NPF, at Omagwa, in Rivers state on Tuesday.
Buhari in a statement signed by the spokesperson to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said more police barracks would be constructed across the country.
The statement read, “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.
“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.”
