From 150 To 62 - Arase Reduces Number Of Policemen Attached To Governors

 

Governors have lost a chunk of their security detail as a result of the reorganisation of the functions of police officers and men.

Police security attached to the governors has been reduced to a maximum of 62 men – which is a unit – according to Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase.

Hitherto some governors had 150 policemen to secure them.

Arase, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend, said the police were worried that too many of their officers and men were doing jobs other than their core police duties, yet they were being promoted.

“When these people now have to be deployed from these special assignments back to their core duties, they may have lost touch,” he said.

According to him, that was behind the decision to withdrawal security from unauthorised persons who use police orderlies for personal aggrandisement rather than as a result of a real threat to their lives. Such people, he said, should find other ways to secure themselves.

He denied that policemen working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were recalled to undermine the anti-corruption crusade of the government.

According to him, policemen working in other agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), NAPTIP, ICPC and others, who had stayed more than five years, were recalled to be replaced with another set, if necessary.

He said the EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Lamorde requested the retention of some of them because they were on special assignments, which, he said, he agreed to do.

The Police Service Commission said last week that a special squad would be deployed on the highways and airports to stop policemen doing illegal guard duties.

Arase said deployment of policemen for guard duties had ensured that of the about 305, 000 policemen engaged by the government, only about 150,000 were available for core duties.

He added that 40,000 policemen across ranks were due to attend promotion courses which he would ensure as soon as funding is available.

The recruitment of 10,000 policemen as announced by the Federal Government would have to wait till next year when there would be budget for it, Arase said adding that only the best hands would be recruited to ensuring that people of integrity are hired.

He expressed his determination to build a data base crime investigation with the support of a $10millon grant from a foreign country.

“I assure you that I will leave the police better than I met it at the end of my tenure next year,” he said.

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