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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Crime & Justice

Gombe to receive 1,056 new police officers from national recruitment drive

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • Gombe State will receive 1,056 new police officers from a national recruitment of 50,000 personnel.
  • The deployment aims to address a severe manpower shortage, with each of Gombe's 11 local government areas getting 96 officers.
  • Nigeria's police strength is significantly below the UN standard of one officer per 400 people, with Egypt having a much larger force despite a smaller population.

Gombe State is set to receive 1,056 newly recruited police officers as part of a nationwide initiative to enlist 50,000 personnel for the Nigeria Police Force. Deputy Inspector-General of Police Zachariah Fera-Achinyan announced that each of Gombe's 11 local government areas will be allocated 96 officers to combat the acute manpower shortage.

You make mention of a lack of manpower. As my senior officer has rightly said, we have 50,000 policemen that are going to be recruited. Each local government has 11 local governments in Gombe. Each local government will get 96 policemen. So, with this number, I believe they are going to cover a lot.

— DIG Zachariah Fera-AchinyanThe Deputy Inspector-General of Police detailed the deployment plan for new recruits in Gombe State.

Achinyan highlighted the critical deficit in police numbers, noting that Nigeria's current strength is far below the United Nations' recommended standard of one police officer for every 400 citizens. He contrasted Nigeria's situation with Egypt, which maintains a police force of over 1.1 million officers despite having a smaller population.

The United Nations standard is one policeman to 400 people. It is not a Nigerian standard; it is the United Nations standard.

— DIG Zachariah Fera-AchinyanThe DIG explained the international benchmark for police-to-population ratio.

The DIG explained that this significant manpower gap is a primary reason for the adoption of community policing strategies. These initiatives aim to foster collaboration between the police and local communities to enhance security across the environment. He emphasized that community policing is essential for effective law enforcement when resources are stretched.

I think Egypt has the highest number of policemen in Africa. They have over 1.1 million police officers. Is the population of Egypt and Nigeria the same? We are more than Egypt by way of population, yet we have barely about 300,000 police officers.

— DIG Zachariah Fera-AchinyanThe DIG compared Nigeria's police numbers to Egypt's to illustrate the deficit.

Furthermore, Achinyan addressed issues of indiscipline and unethical practices within the police force, such as extortion. He attributed these behaviors to a lack of professionalism and poor financial management among some officers, whose lifestyles often exceed their legitimate earnings. He stressed that a disciplined and professional officer is a complete officer, and acts of extortion signal a departure from these standards.

That is why we brought forward the issue of community policing so that we could work together with the community to police the environment.

— DIG Zachariah Fera-AchinyanThe DIG explained the rationale behind implementing community policing initiatives.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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