Gombe State is set to receive 1,056 newly recruited police officers as part of the Nigeria Police Force’s planned recruitment of 50,000 personnel nationwide, Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Department, DIG Zachariah Fera-Achinyan, has disclosed.
Achinyan made the announcement on Monday during a stakeholders’ engagement and consultative meeting with the Deputy Inspector-General of Police coordinating the North-East at the Gombe State Police Command headquarters.
According to him, each of the state’s 11 local government areas will receive 96 officers from the ongoing recruitment exercise aimed at addressing the acute shortage of manpower in the Force.
“You make mention of lack of manpower. As rightly my senior officer has said, we have 50,000 policemen that are going to be recruited,” he said.
“Each local government, we have 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.”
The DIG noted that Nigeria’s police strength remains grossly inadequate when measured against international standards.
“The United Nations standard is one policeman to 400 people. It is not a Nigerian standard; it is the United Nations standard,” he said.
Comparing Nigeria with other African countries, Achinyan pointed to Egypt’s larger police workforce despite its smaller population.
“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.”
He explained that the manpower deficit informed the adoption of community policing initiatives.
“That is why we brought forward the issue of community policing so that we could work together with the community to police the environment,” he stated.
The senior police officer also used the forum to decry extortion and other unethical practices among police personnel, describing them as symptoms of indiscipline and lack of professionalism.
“A disciplined policeman is always a disciplined policeman. A disciplined policeman is a professional policeman. A professional policeman is a complete policeman,” he said.
According to him, officers who engage in extortion are often driven by lifestyles that exceed their legitimate earnings.
“If you see a policeman indulging in acts of extortion, that policeman is not a good manager of resources. You see a policeman wearing the rank of a corporal and living like a DSP. His salary cannot measure up for him to live the life of that DSP.
“That tendency is the main driver of extortion. So, a policeman who extorts, something should ring a bell in your brain that he is not a professional policeman. A professional policeman will live within his means.”
Drawing from his early days in the Force, Achinyan said previous generations of officers understood the need to live according to their rank and earnings.
“In those days, when we joined the police, they would give an officer money to buy a car. They would give a corporal the same loan to buy a bicycle. So, if the corporal wants to drive a car, what will he do? He will go against his calling.”
He further condemned human rights violations, drunkenness on duty and poor appearance by police officers, insisting that such behaviours diminish public confidence in the Force.
“A policeman who extorts money, abuses human rights, drinks while on duty and wears a tattered uniform is not a professional policeman.
“Run away from such police officers because the moment a police officer is shabbily dressed, he responds shabbily. You cannot see a well-kept policeman behaving in a manner that is not expected of him.
“That is why we are out to deal with them.”
Achinyan maintained that any officer who acts contrary to the Police Code of Conduct cannot be regarded as a true professional.
“Any policeman you see doing what is against the police code of conduct is not a professional policeman,” he added.