Encourage honest citizens to join police, PSC chairman urges traditional rulers, community leaders

The chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC), IGP Musiliu Smith (retd), has urged traditional rulers and community leaders to encourage reputable and honest citizens to apply for recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force.

IGP Smith gave the urge on Wednesday in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the South West Zone police recruitment sensitisation forum for stakeholders.

Present at the meeting were traditional rulers and community leaders from Oyo and Osun states, executive members of Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and senior police officers including Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone Eleven and Commissioners of Police in the zone.

Speaking at the forum, Smith said that the need to have the contribution of community leaders was to get people of good character to join the force.

He pointed out that if this was not done, “the purpose of providing and safety is defeated if the police as a security organisation is contaminated with persons who are criminally minded, owing to the poor calibre of those applying for the recruitment.”

The PSC chairman added that community members were being urged to encourage people with good character to join the police force because they would know the character of those living within their communities better than others.

“Effectively engaging in community policing by providing the police with relevant intelligence/information is critical to the success of policing, and can only be achieved with inclusive participation.

“Citizens should view this plea as a matter of life and death, as the current prevailing state of criminality in the country is abhorrent and affects us all,” he further stated.

Continuing, the PSC chairman said: “If we don’t have people to replace those officers that are retiring or dead, maybe as a result of insecurity or natural death; if we don’t make adequate preparation for those people, our zone will have a problem. If we don’t have our sons and daughters participating in the recruitment, it is not good for any geopolitical zone of the country.

“That is why we are going round to appeal to stakeholders. Don’t let us create problems for future generations and Nigeria as a whole.”

He also urged those applying for the recruitment to prepare well for the examination and give themselves the best possible chance of succeeding.

He cited cases whereby during screening in the last recruitment, some young applicants were discovered to have tuberculosis and high blood pressure, advising prospective applicants to be sure of their medical status to avoid calamity during training.

Smith also appealed to citizens to encourage serving police officers by reporting and commending professionalism and acts of valour to concerned authorities as much as misconducts by bad eggs were usually reported.

He said that while negative news circulates faster, it should be noted that “our police force is still filled with men and women of great valour and integrity.”

He however said that it would not translate to turning a blind eye to the bad eggs, which, according to him, would be found in every profession, family and society.

He promised that disciplinary action would be taken against officers involved in acts not consistent with the expected image of the Nigeria Police Force if such ones are reported to the PSC or other relevant bodies.

In his contribution, the President of Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Oluyemisi Adeaga, enjoined community leaders to encourage those who love law enforcement as a profession, not the ones who just desire to have a job, not minding their not being committed to such.

Also, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi urged the Police Service Commission to carry along the traditional rulers in the police recruitment exercises, so that they would not end up engaging criminals.

The Iwo monarch also advocated a minimum wage of N100,000 to the police, saying that it would discourage them from extortion and motivate others to join the force.

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