Police recruitment: Commission says exercise will be thorough

The Police Service Commission has promised to be thorough in the screening of applicants for the recruitment of additional 10,000 policemen into the Police Force.
President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the commission to recruit 10,000 policemen to boost the number of the force.
The Chairman of the commission, Mike Okiro, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.
Okiro said the commission had worked out modalities for the exercise
“We have worked out modalities for the planned recruitment into the police force,” he said.
He explained that the exercise could not take place immediately after the directive because it was not captured in the 2015 budget.
He said: “Because there was no provision in this year’s budget, we could not begin the recruitment immediately when the directive was given.
“Once things about their payment was put in place, we will begin recruitment.
“We are ready for the exercise.”
Okiro said the commission would try to avoid the mistake of the 1999 exercise when thieves and armed robbers were recruited.
He said: “We expect to have better police officers during the exercise unlike in 1999 recruitment when we had all sorts of people recruited into the police force.
“But this time around, we are going to take precaution to make sure that people coming in are well screened.”
Okiro advised members of the public to disregard any social media advert calling for people to pay money for forms.
He said: “I was told that some fraudsters have been putting up advert in the social media calling for people to pay money for recruitment.
“Anybody who sees such advert should know that it is a fraud.
“When we start, people would not pay because it is free.”
On the state of Police Training Colleges, Okiro said they were in desolate condition after being abandoned for five years.
He said government was expected to make money available for the renovation of the colleges before the commencement of the exercise.
“The training institutions that have been abandoned for five years are now in desolate condition,” he said.
He said the dilapidating state of the Ikeja Police Training College cut across others in the country.
The chairman, who did not mention the amount required to renovate the colleges, however, said it would be colossal.
Okiro said: “I cannot tell you the amount that will be required for the renovation of the colleges.
“All I can tell you is that the amount is going to be colossal.”
NAN.