Nobody will be spared for corrupt practices —DIG

The Deputy Inspector General in charge of Information and Communication Technology, Foluso Adebanjo, has said that the Nigeria Police Force would not spare anyone found to be involved in corrupt practices.

The DIG stated this in Ibadan on Wednesday, while addressing police officers during an inspection of facilities at the Police Training School at the Eleiyele headquarters of the Oyo State Police Command, in preparation for the training of candidates who succeeded in their applications for jobs in the Nigeria Police.

Adebanjo, who is also the supervising DIG for the South West geo-political zone, said that he had been to the Police Training Schools in Iperu-Remo in Ogun State and Ikeja, Lagos State, and was accompanied by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone Two, AIG Kayode Aderanti.

He disclosed that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and the management team viewed the ongoing recruitment exercise as very important, adding that one of the reasons for his visit was to assess the facilities on ground to know whether they would be adequate for the training of 477 recruits in the school.

“If you don’t get policing and training right at the recruitment stage, things cannot go well in the country. The Police Force is an important organisation, and we must get the training curriculum right,” he stated further.

The DIG admitted that there were mistakes in past recruitment exercises which resulted in the recruitment of those who were not supposed to be part of the organisation.

“The policing profession is a noble one which we are supposed to be proud of, but there is no doubt that some elements have joined,” he said, pointing out, however, that such people were never spared whenever detected.

He added that the IGP was trying to meet with President Mohammadu Buhari for intervention fund in places where there would be need to upgrade the facilities.

Also, he said there was need to ensure that the screening of candidates meets the standard prerequisites, stressing: “If some candidates, by whatever means, were able to scale through the first selection, they will not do so to the end because we will ensure that we bar such candidates.”

The DIG also stated that the final screening of the new entrants would be done quickly to scrutinise the list of successful candidates in order to guard against the inclusion of the names of non-indigenes in each geo-political zone.

“For example, if we see Chukwuma here (Ibadan), then we will know that he belongs to the South East, not South West,” he said.

He admonished the officers not to do things that would make people refer to them as corrupt or lazy, saying: “You should do the right things so that the police can be respected.”