Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu has said 18,360 community policing officers (CPOs) have been screened, vetted, recruited and trained.

This was as the Acting Chairman of the National Salaries and Wages Commission (NSWC), Ekpo Nta, said a new salary structure for policemen would soon come into force.

Both men spoke at a workshop to sensitise members of the public on community policing, organised in conjunction with Unite Consult Limited and C. O. Luke & Co., in Abuja.

Nta, who was represented by Secretary to the commission, David Nyikyaa, said documentation on the improved salary structure for the police had been completed and was awaiting submission to the President for approval.

He said they have been working round the clock to ensure the new salary structure was ready as soon as possible, following the President’s order in the wake of the #EndSARS crisis late last year.

Adamu said the recruitment for the CPOs was conducted in two batches with the first consisting of 9,478 and the second, 8,278.

A state-by-state breakdown of the recruitment shows that Zamfara has the highest number with 2,550, which the IGP attributed to the security crisis in the state, while the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has the least: 96.

Adamu said four states – Anambra, Borno, Kwara and Osun – are yet to undertake the recruitment and training, though modalities for the exercise were being perfected with their governors.

The IGP said the training ran for four weeks, adding that upon completion, the CPOs were kitted with specially branded police uniforms with identification badges.

He said most of the states had deployed the CPOs to their statutory duty of complementing the police and their communities in building trust.

Adamu reassured Nigerians of their safety and security by ensuring that the police maintain law and order across the localities.

The police boss said the force had been receiving special requests from some governors for the recruitment, training, kitting and deployment of additional CPOs to their domains.

He said the governors had made commitments to meeting the financial requirements for the recruitment.

According to him, such requests have been received from Niger, Edo, Lagos and Nasarawa states and had been attended to. (The Nation)

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