‘Strengthen existing police personnel for effective output’

A retired Captain and Senior Special Assistant on Security to Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Iniobong Ekong, has advocated the strengthening of the existing police force instead of recruiting new personnel for the much talked about state police.

According to him, paying more attention to logistics, personnel and improved remuneration with adequate other motivation with the current setting in the force, would make for a better security architecture for the nation.

Ekong stated this yesterday while fielding questions from journalists on the incessant calls for the establishment of state police.

The governor’s aide said that having new set of personnel for state police would be economic waste as such would not offer Nigerians the level of security required for social, economic and political development of the country.

According to him, all that is needed would be the strengthening of the capacity, increase in the number of personnel and overhaul of logistics.

He said: “What I think we can do is to expand the scope of the federal police, expand the strength and give it more orientation that is tailored more towards the community than offices and structures. So, we can improve in what we have and still give it a more human orientation than leaving it where it is and starting something fresh.

“So, the question is can we improve the federal police? And the answer is yes. Can we engage with the community to work paripasu? The answer is yes. So, if that is so, what we need is to make it much more realistic, much more friendly, much more result-oriented and much more humane in delivery.