FG to recruit 10,000 cops, install CCTVs nationwide

President Muhammadu Buhari said 10, 000 additional police personnel would be recruited and the CCTV Monitoring System would be installed across major cities and towns in Nigeria to further strengthen the security of the public space.
Speaking in Abuja yesterday while declaring open, a one-day national security summit organised by the Nigeria Police Force, Buhari assured that his administration would strengthen the police accountability mechanism.
He disclosed that his government was planning to employ at least extra 10,000 police officers and establish a properly trained and equipped Federal Anti-Terrorism Multi-Agency Task Force that would effectively address the challenge of future insurgency in a sustainable manner.
“In the meantime, efforts are being made to enhance the operational capacity of officers of the Nigeria Police through a tailor-made training programme that will give them the right civil orientation in their roles as guardians of the constitution,” he said.
The president noted that effective of any society policing is dependent on the level of security consciousness of the citizens and the strength of the understanding between the policing agencies and the community.
“This explains why it is generally acknowledged that no Police Force in the world, no matter how well motivated, equipped or trained can successfully operate without the acceptance and support of the various communities,” he said.
He said the need for community input to policing and crime management in Nigeria had become more imperative considering the current security challenges in “which kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, transnational crimes,  terrorism and other organszed crimes have evolved to threaten our national values and over-all progress as a nation.”
He said while it was understandable that unemployment, illiteracy, radicalisation, negative peer group influence, substance abuse and erosion of family and moral values were social factors that underlying criminal tendencies, the reality remains that the task of addressing these challenges is that of parents, teachers, community and the State.
“In other words, it is a bottom to top operation,” he said, pledging that in appreciation of the strategic role of the citizens and the community in modern policing, his administration would encourage states to look at state-level community inter-acting with police under a model that would integrate members of the community to policing functions at the grassroots level.
Buhari commended the police leadership for appreciating the yearning of members of the public by ordering the dismantling of police road blocks “which have consistently constituted a dark side of policing and object of discord between the police and the citizens of this country.
“The initiatives of the Inspector-General of Police to also introduce the ‘Safer Highway Motorised Patrol’ Scheme and deploy 555 Patrol Vehicles along all major highways to fill the void created by the enforcement of the order dismantling road blocks is also acknowledged as a proactive action meant to reassure citizens of their safety and security. In addition, I also note the commitment of the Force leadership to uphold and enforce Chapter IV of the constitution and commit officers of the Force to the adherence to all United Nations and African Union Charters and other regional global instruments on Human Rights while also introducing Alternative Dispute Resolution procedures to policing functions,” he said.