INSECURITY: Police present long shopping list at Reps public hearing

For the Nigeria Police Force to be able to perform at its optimum, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has demanded for 1000 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), 250,000 assault rifles and corresponding ammunition, among several other things.

These, Adamu said, are needed aside the inadequate personnel at the disposal of the force, while speaking at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs on Tuesday. The public hearing was tagged ‘Repositioning the Nigeria Police for an Enhanced Service Delivery’.

The IGP, who was represented by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations), Aldulmajid Ali, also disclosed that the country needed 2,000,000 tear gas canisters and smoke grenades.

Other equipment required included 200,000 riot gunners and smoke pistols, 1,000 tracking devices, and 774 operational drones, among others.

Aside equipment, the IGP also lamented that poor remuneration scared best and suitable applicants away from the police.

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Speaking further, the IGP said the challenges facing the force included gross underfunding, which he said was caused by inadequate budgetary appropriation and non-release of the limited appropriated funds.

He noted that the budgetary system still remained the envelope system, which he said was not capable of taking care of neither the needs nor wants of the force.

He said: “A comparative analysis between Nigeria and South Africa police indicates that while in 2018 the South African police got R46.87bn rand or N1.1372tn for visible policing programme, with a 6.89 per cent growth projection up to 2021/2022 financial year, the Nigeria Police had to do with N35bn appropriation and an eventual release of N20bn for capital and overhead expenditure.”

The police boss also described personnel of the NPF as inadequate to cope with the expanding and increasingly complex requirements of policing Nigeria’s growing population and crime profile.

According to him, 302,000 police officers cannot effectively police the country.

Speaking poor remuneration, the IGP explained that poor remuneration and welfare regime were not only de-motivating for officers, but were not attractive enough for the best and most suitable applicants for police jobs in Nigeria.

“In Kenya, for example, a police constable take-home earning is about 34,907 Shilling or N126,000, whereas his Nigerian counterpart earns unfortunately less than N50,000. Pitiably, this earning comes down to between N12,000 and N18,000 at retirement,” he said.

The DIG also said that paucity of funds had over the years made it impossible for an average police officer to be adequately trained and retrained for an enhanced service delivery, adding that improvement in this area would no doubt enhance professionalism in terms of weapon handling, investigation and human rights observance.

“The force needs to improve on its arsenal, as well as technology to combat cybercrime, insurgency and sundry crimes.

“Consequently, not less than 1,000 APCs, 250,000 assault rifles/corresponding ammunition, 2,000,000 tear gas canisters/smoke grenades 200,000 riot gunners and smoke pistols, 1,000 tracking devices, 774 operational drones, among others, (are needed) to cover the length and breadth of the nation”, he said.

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