RECRUITMENT: Police to begin recruitment of 10,000 personnel April 1

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has warned that there would be no short-cut into the Nigeria Police Force in the recruitment of 10,000 personnel.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2015 approved the recruitment of 10,000 policemen at the National Security Summit in Abuja.

In a statement Wednesday, Ikechukwu Ani, Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission, told journalists that Mike Okiro, Chairman of the commission, gave the warning while unveiling a portal for the exercise in Abuja. The statement said that the portal would be opened to the public on April 1 to herald the commencement of the exercise. “The process leading to the recruitment of 10,000 Policemen as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari at the National Security Summit in Abuja last year, has commenced,” the statement said. It said the unveiling of the portal was in actualisation of the presidential directive on the recruitment of the 10,000 Policemen. The statement noted that the exercise was remarkable because there had not been recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force for more than five years. It said that thousands of policemen who died in the course of service, dismissed or retired, had not been replaced since the last five years. The statement stressed that the recruitment would strengthen and re-energise the force to tackle more security challenges facing the country. It explained that the exercise could not begin last year because the funding was not captured in the 2015 budget. The statement urged interested applicants to access the portal through the commission’s website: www.psc.gov.ng or that of the Nigeria Police Force: www.npf.gov.ng. It said that no fee would be charged for the processing of the forms which would be filled on-line. “We are not charging money. It is free, absolutely free,” it said. The statement said that the exercise would be in three entry points of Constable, Cadet Inspector and Cadet ASP, while there would also be recruitment into the Specialist cadre. It said that applicants for Police Constables are expected to possess five credits including Mathematics and English Language at Senior School Certificate Examination in not more than two sittings. It said that for Cadet Inspectors, in addition to having the requirements of Police Constables, candidates would be expected to have an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Advanced Level (A level), National Certificate in Education (NCE) or their equivalents. The statement said Candidates for Cadet ASP must possess a University degree or a Higher National Diploma (HND). (NAN)