The House of Representatives on Wednesday, charged the Inspector General of Police and the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to consider recruitment of members of community policing constabulary scheme and volunteers into the NPF and NSCDC respectively.
The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion titled, ‘Need to Consider the Recruitment of Community Policing Constabulary Scheme and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps volunteers into the Nigeria Police Force and Civil Defence Corps,’ moved by the member representing Gummi/Bukuyum Federal Constituency, Zamfara State, Sulaiman Gumi.
Leading the debate on the floor of the Green Chamber during plenary on Wednesday, Gummi noted that in July 2019, the then Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, after meeting with the former President, Muhammad Buhari, stated that plans were on to use N-power beneficiaries to kick-start community policing in the country,
He said, “Note that the proposal put up by the Federal Government and the 36 State Governors to recruit 500,000 volunteers across the 774 Local Government Areas of the country through the N-power programme was designed to tackle the shortage of manpower in the Nigeria Police Force.”
He also quoted the Nigerian Police Force Spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, on August 24, 2022, as saying that the volunteers working and trained by the Nigeria Police were not direct employees or personnel of the police but of their respective communities, hence not entitled to salary but allowances.
The lawmaker maintained that the House is aware “That President Bola Tinubu, in line with his electioneering campaign aimed at strengthening the Nigeria Police towards optimal functionality in resolving the insecurity challenge in Nigeria, approved the annual recruitment of 10,000 personnel into the Force.”
“The House is aware that the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Solomon Arase, recently inaugurated an 11-man board saddled with the recruitment of police constables into the NPF.
“The House observes that the implementation of community policing strategies across the country was to focus on building strong ties between the police and members of the communities through interactions with local agencies and members of the public, thus creating partnerships and strategies for reducing crime and disorder,
“Conscious of the fact that the NSCDC was primarily established to protect lives, properties, and public infrastructure in conjunction with Nigerian police, and due to the shortage of manpower experienced in the police force, the institution relies on volunteers who complement the efforts of regular corps members to effectively carry out their assigned roles and functions;
