Kingsley U N Chikwendu —
A security expert, Dr Saddiq Hassan, yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said it is not encouraging to see that Nigerian police officers are underfunded with poor housing, poor remuneration, and inadequate modern equipment.
Hassan, the Managing Director of Hassino Security Strategic-Consult also said for the enhanced performance of the nation’s security agencies and its military, there should be an increase in funding which he also added has become imperative, going by the security challenges facing the country.
While stating that with improved finding, the nation’s military and other security agencies would function optimally, Hassan also advised for training and retraining of personnel to sharpen their competences and improve their capabilities.
He said training of personnel together with improved intelligence gathering and information sharing will go a long way in tackling the myriads of security challenges currently plaguing the country.
“Over time, they (police) have been underfunded with poor salaries,poor housing and inadequate modern equipment. This is not encouraging at all, he said.
“If you look at Egypt, whose population is not by any means close to Nigeria’s population, they have about a million police officers, while we have less than 500,000 officers for a population of over 200 milion.
“So, compare the population of both countries, you will discover that police need more manpower to function optimally. This is required especially in the north-east, north-west, north-central, south-east and other parts of the country.
“Therefore, intelligence gathering, information sharing, training and re-training of personnel with the requisite equipment,are key in military operations and successes ” he said.
While also urging the government to better the welfare of police personnel and recruit more hands to strengthen internal security, he said that improved funding of police would reduce the crime rate in the country.
