Why police must recruit locally – Oyetola

From Fisayo Akinduro, Osogbo
|
The Nigeria Police Force has been urged to consider states’ peculiarities in the recruitment of new officers in order to enhance intelligence gathering and effective performance for the agency.

The Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola gave the charge while addressing participants at the South-west geo-political zone  security summit in Ibadan,  Oyo State.

Oyetola said the police must not shy away from the critical needs of each of the states of the federation in the recruitment exercise by ensuring that applicants are recruited locally and deployed to serve in their various localities after training.

He said the call was necessary in the quest to strengthen collaboration between  communities and the police.

Oyetola noted that the engagement of locals into the police would help the institution to properly penetrate the localities and communities for effective and efficient service delivery.

Similarly, he said Osun state  has been maintaining the 25 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), it donated to complement the work of security operatives in the state and it is planning to buy more.

The governor, while lamenting the shortage of police personnel in the country, advocated for recruitment of more officers and men into the force.

He said his administration has been working hard to maintain Osun’s  status as the most peaceful and safest state in Nigeria, adding that it has also developed a security roadmap aimed at strengthening the security architecture in the state.

Describing the summit as significant in view of the security challenges confronting the country, particularly the South-west, Oyetola said  recommendations from the summit would further help the governors in their bid to strengtheni security in the region.

“On our part, we have been doing our best to champion the core fundamental objectives of government which is the security of lives and property of the citizens.

“We are providing logistics to our security agencies. We are also planning to build helipad to boost security surveillance in the state and ensure effective performance.

“We have approached the Security Chiefs to stamp out those criminals that are parading themselves as miners. It is in view of this that I commend my colleagues in the South-west for the synergy that exists among us regardless of politics to keep our region safe”, Oyetola added.