In line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive, that the Inspector-General of Police should prune the number of policemen attached to dignitaries, and redeploy all policemen withdrawn from the role to regular police duties, the IGP, Solomon Arase, has reduced the numbers of Policemen attached to each of the 36 states Governors, from 150 to 62.
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.
He added that usually when these policemen are deployed from these special assignments back to their core duties, they may have lost touch.
The IGP also pointed that there is a decision to withdraw 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.
Recall that during a meeting, penultimate Friday, with officials of the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Police Service Commission at the Presidential Villa, President Buhari had given this order.
The Inspector-General of Police, however, 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 affirmed.