The Commissioner representing the Southeast in the Police Service Commission (PSC), Chief Onyemuche Nnamani, has urged the Abia government to maintain adequate security in the State.
Nnamani disclosed this on Thursday, when he paid Governor Alex Otti a visit.
The visit was in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.
The Commissioner said that he was in Abia to supervise the screening of applicants of the ongoing Police Constables recruitment exercise.
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He said he observed that there was peace and calm which showed that the government was taking strategic steps to keep Abia secured.
Nnamani stated: “We commend you for those efforts and I urge you to do everything possible to maintain adequate security in the State.
“I also want to say that coming here, nobody warned me including my wife, nobody panicked.
“If I had said I was going to neighbouring States, a lot of warnings would have come and I would have gone to Police to get extra security.
“I came here on my own without anybody, which means there is calm, but it is not yet Uhuru, there is still room to improve.
Nnamani described the continuous security improvement as essential for progress in addressing insecurity, and urged the government to remain committed to the establishment of peace and stability.
He commended the Abia government for its efforts towards mobilising youths to apply for the police force jobs, adding that it would aid in tackling apathy to police recruitment in the state and the Southeast region.
He recounted: “Last month, we finished that of the Police Academy for those that underwent training to be Police officers and Abia was fully represented.
“In this exercise, about 2,000 people applied from Abia, while other states in the North received up to 30,000 applications.
“It is not yet Uhuru, a lot of improvement is still required,” Nnamani said.
He said that the Commission had been mandated to recruit 10,000 persons into the Police Force and added that President Bola Tinubu had approved the recruitment of another 30,000 persons into the Force.
Nnamani said that these recruitment exercises would greatly help in solving the manpower problem experienced in the Police Force.
He also said that there had been improvement in the turn out of applicants for the Police Force job in Abia and urged the residents to endeavour to meet the state quota for the upcoming recruitment.
Responding, Otti described security as key to development, but said “unfortunately most people do not show interest in security.”
He said that insecurity was retarding Nigeria’s development.
“Assuming that Boko Haram and all the things that came with it did not happen, we would have been very far away from where we are today,” Otti said.
He said that any investment made in security could not be regarded as a waste, but sometimes people don’t understand and they tend to be impatient.
Otti said that apathy towards enlisting in the Police Force could be as a result of not wanting to go through the rigours of rising through the ranks and regimented authority.
He expressed delight that the efforts made to get the people of Abia to apply for the job yielded fruit, although the figure is still very low compared with what other states have.
Otti said that the government had taken the responsibility of making the citizens understand that the Police Force is a good place to build a career.
The Governor added: “A lot of senior police started out just like you. So, I am happy that members of my team are here and even though we didn’t do well with this initial 10,000, we should do well in the impending one for the 30,000 target.
“The truth is that a lot of our people are still either unemployed or underemployed so there is no reason why they should not apply if they are qualified.
“I am throwing the challenge back to the team to say, you guys have your job cut out for you, so go back and mobilise our people, community by community, Ward by ward, local government by local government.
“Appoint Liaison Officers for this purpose and hold them responsible. Let them go with town criers, let people move around, go to churches, go to community centres and let our people know.”
Otti said that the government would provide incentives to assist and make it easy for interested persons, especially the indigent ones, to enlist in the Police Force.
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