President
Buhari on Thursday directed the Inspector-General of Police, to prune
down the number of policemen attached to the Nigerian Elites.
At a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Police Affairs and
the Police Service Commission in the Presidential Villa Abuja on
Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Inspector-General of
Police, Sunday Arase, to prune down the number of policemen attached to
dignitaries.He also directed the police IG to redeploy all policemen
withdrawn from that role to regular police duties.
The President, however warned that he would not tolerate any
irregularities or extortion of money from unemployed Nigerians in the
coming recruitment into the police, saying that applicants paying bribes
before being accepted into the police is totally unacceptable.
“You must ensure that the recruitment process is transparent.
Those who will conduct the recruitment must be above board. It should
not be heard that they receive gratification or extort money from those
who want to enlist in the police,” Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, quoted President Buhari as saying.
The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mike Okiro, said the country needed to have more than the 305,579 policemen and women it has at present for effective policing. He thanked President Buhari for approving the recruitment of 10,000 additional policemen and women earlier this week.