The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has lamented poor funding of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), saying he some stations don’t have a single operational vehicle.
Egbetokun said this on Tuesday when he appeared before the house of representatives during a plenary session to brief the lower legislative chamber on the state of security in the country.
He noted that he inherited a police force that was virtually abandoned and suffered neglect over the years with ill-motivated personnel.
Egbetokun said police personnel were operating in a very difficult environment as a result of the neglect they had suffered over the years, especially in the area of inadequate manpower and operational facilities.
He said the police have almost 6000 divisional police headquarters across the country with each requiring a minimum of four operational vehicles, adding that while some have operational vehicles, many of such stations cannot boast of a single operational vehicle.
He 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.“
The IGP said the UN’s recommended 1:400 policing ratio is currently unachievable in Nigeria, noting that the current ratio stands at 1:1,000.
He said this demands an increase of manpower in the police force.
“We have 1,137 police divisional headquarters across 774 LGAs in Nigeria but getting operational vehicles for the division is difficult.
“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.
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“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.”
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