The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, openly acknowledged that he inherited a battered Nigeria Police Force upon assuming office, lacking facilities, equipment, human resources, and other essentials necessary for operational functionality.
The police chief revealed this on Tuesday during a briefing to the House of Representatives, outlining the police’s initiatives to bolster the country’s security.
Mr Egbetokun said, ‘Unfortunately, we met on the ground a police force that had been battered. A police force that has suffered serious neglect over the past few years. The police also find itself operating in a very difficult environment partly as a direct consequence of this neglect,’
He further pointed out that the police’s manpower was “grossly inadequate,” a reality acknowledged even by those on the wrong side of the law.
Mr. Egbetokun informed lawmakers that the United Nations’ recommended 1:400 policing ratio is not achievable in the country at the moment, highlighting the current ratio of 1:1,000.
Calling for the redoubling of manpower in the force, he said, ‘We have 1,137 police divisional headquarters across 774 LGAs in Nigeria but getting operational vehicles for the division is difficult.’
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‘Each of these divisions requires at least four functional vehicles but we have divisions that don’t have any functional operational vehicles as of today.’
‘The welfare of personnel is nothing to write home about. Funding is critical to achieving the mandate of the Nigerian police. Unfortunately, the citizens are not interested in our excuses for underperformance. What the citizens want is performance.’
‘They want us to serve them. We are willing to serve them but we need your cooperation, funding, more manpower, and logistics to train our men adequately.’
‘We need to improve the welfare of our officers, we want a well-motivated workforce in the police,’ Mr Egbetokun stated.
However, the police chief pointed out that despite the challenges, the force has been performing well. He stressed that officers have been committed to protecting lives and property throughout the country.
‘We have been responding to the best of our ability but unfortunately, no agency can perform beyond the limit of resources available to it,’ he said.
With a promise to shape a police force that elicits pride from both officers and Nigerians, the IG appealed to lawmakers to increase budgetary provisions, facilitating the force in meeting the expectations of the populace.