The raging altercation between the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) over the ‘tainted’ recruitment of 10,000 police constables across the country does not speak well of the two agencies of the federal government. The avoidable altercation has further exposed the absence of synergy between the PSC and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force in the exercise.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had alleged that the exercise was not properly done, considering the quality of constables in the recruitment list. Egbetokun also alleged that “some persons listed as successful candidates were either untrainable or living with disabilities.” Some reports have it that the list of successful candidates contained even the names of those who did not apply for the job and did not participate in the recruitment exercise.
These allegations of corruption in the recruitment exercise are too weighty to be swept under the carpet. They must be fully investigated by the federal government. The IGP was also not satisfied that the Nigeria Police Force was excluded from the recruitment. He argued that the Supreme Court verdict did not exclude the police force from being a part of the recruitment of police personnel. His position is that the PSC should carry the police along in the recruitment process. The IGP had also clarified that the NPF was not against the recruitment of Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWD). He even assured the public that plans were on to accommodate the PLWD wishing to be in the force.
Similarly, the PSC has accused the IGP of peddling falsehood and misinformation over the ongoing 2022/23 Police Constable recruitment exercise by the commission. In a recent press conference on the issue at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, the Joint Union Congress of the PSC accused Egbetokun of misleading the President with misinformation. The PSC has even called on President Bola Tinubu to relieve Egbetokun of his post. The PSC also alleged that “some elements within the police attempted to smuggle over 1,000 names into the recruitment list, hence the smear campaign against the commission.
The ongoing war of words between the PSC and the NPF over the recruitment of police constables should not be used to cover the fact that the exercise was seemingly compromised. Based on the altercations from the Police and the PSC over the botched exercise, the federal government should cancel the exercise and order for a new recruitment exercise panel that will include the PSC, the Police and some patriotic Nigerians. However, the federal government should probe the flawed recruitment exercise and punish those responsible for compromising the exercise.
Recruitment into the police force or any other security agency is a serious business that calls for utmost patriotism and sincerity of purpose of those in the recruitment panel. In the recruitment exercise merit and ability to do the job should take precedence over other considerations. There must be background checks on the prospective police recruits. Nobody should be recruited into the force because he is connected to someone in the corridors of power. Nigeria is currently grappling with insecurity and therefore should not toy with any recruitment in any of the security agencies, including the police force. On no account should men of questionable characters be recruited into the police force. Doing so will vitiate the major aim of the exercise.
While it is imperative to maintain ethnic diversity in the recruitment exercise, that alone should not be used to compromise merit and ability to do the job. Before now, the Nigeria Police had been having credibility problem. Its battered image should not be compounded further with the tainted police recruitment.
Without doubt, many Nigerians perceive the Nigeria police as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country. This perception seems to have become tenable because of the everyday experiences of the citizens with police officers. Motorists are coerced by officers to give them bribes. There have been reported cases of motorists shot by police officers for refusing to pay illegal tolls. These are some of the issues the IGP should address frontally.
With about 350,000 personnel, the NPF is highly understaffed and ill-equipped for the rising security challenges. The annual recruitment of 10,000 policemen will take a long time to fill the gap in the numerical strength of the police. Recruiting about 20,000 policemen every year will remarkably strengthen the police force.