Police job: Reps seek 10 slots each for LGs

The House of Representatives on Wednesday called for “equity, fair play and justice” in the planned recruitment of 10,000 policemen.

It said the exercise should comply with the Federal Character principle as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution.

The House resolved that 10 officers and men should be recruited from each of the 774 local government areas in the country in a bid to give every part of the country a sense of belonging.

A member from Bauchi State, Mr. Mohammed Sani-Abdu, and 78 other lawmakers jointly sponsored a motion on the matter, preceding the House resolution.

President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the recruitment of additional 10,000 policemen to beef up the manpower of the Nigeria Police Force.

Part of the resolution reads, “The House urges the Police Service Commission, the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Nigeria Police Force to ensure that the recruitment of 10,000 officers and men into the Force shall be based on an allotment of ten (10) slots to each of the 768 local government areas and six (6) area councils of the Federal Capital Territory in the first instance.”

The House also reviewed the losses the country had incurred due to the activities of Boko Haram insurgency and approved the creation of a standing committee on Internally Displaced Persons.

It recalled that in the North-East alone, over 200,000 deaths had occurred, while “over five million others” were displaced.

The duties of the committee include policies and legislative measures on the welfare of IDPs.