By DAVID ADEOYE

The Committee of Retired Inspectors-General of Police has advocated 65 years as retirement age and 40 years as tenure of service for Police personnel.

This is part of resolutions of the former I-Gs at the end of their two-day retreat, held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The resolutions are in the retreat’s seven-point communiqué issued on Thursday in Ibadan by retired I-G Solomon Arase, who is Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the retreat had the theme “Intervention of former I-Gs for strategic contribution to effective policing in Nigeria”.

The retreat gave the ex-Police heads the opportunity to brainstorm towards repositioning the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for greater impact, relevance and strategic intervention within the country’s competitive security landscape.

The points are outlined as follows: Reforms and Policy Matters; Recruitment and Deployment of Police Personnel; Safety and Welfare; Strategic Partnership; Training and Capacity Development; Police Operations; and Police Operations.

According to the communiqué, there is the need for a re-evaluation of retirement age and tenure of service.

“This should be by extending the retirement age from 60 to 65 years and tenure of service from 35 to 40 years, whichever comes first.”

The committee also recommended that divisional police headquarters across the country, which they observed were usually under-staffed and under-equipped, should be adequately staffed.

“They should be provided with appropriate law enforcement equipment to enable them discharge their statutory duties effectively.”

It added that, in view of the shortfall in manpower, there is urgent need to upgrade junior police officers with higher educational qualifications.

“They should be moved to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to reflect the personal and carriage of their qualifications.”

The committee further urged for recruitment into the Nigeria Police to be institutionalised and captured in NPF’s annual budget proposals so as to halt intermittent request for approval.

It added that NPF should re-evaluate the large number of Police personnel usually attached to those regarded as Very Important Persons (VIPs) and politicians.

The retired I-Gs explained that this is to allow for wider coverage of the personnel in NPF’s core area of policing.

They also urged that, relying on extant provisions of the Constitution and Establishment Act, the NPF should be restored to be effectively in charge of internal security management.

“This is to avoid needless usurpation of Police’s statutory functions.”

On safety and welfare of Police, the committee called on the Federal Government to give the NPF funding priority in the face of competing demands.

It also recommended that a modern policing approach which advocates for strategic police-civilian relations, where the Police co-habit with the civil populace, should be encouraged.

The former I-Gs further said the Mobile Police Force personnel should be accommodated in barracks and well-kitted.

In addition, the committee implored President Bola Tinubu to assent to the Pension Bill exiting the Nigeria Police from the contributory pension scheme.

It explained that this is with a view to improving the welfare of retired officers and motivating the serving personnel.

The former I-Gs urged the Federal Government to implement the White Paper on the Police Reform Reports (Danmadami and M.D Yusuf reports) for optimal performance of the Nigeria Police.

On strategic partnership, the committee recommended that the Police management team should consolidate on measures aimed at ensuring harmonious working relations with the PSC.

The retired Police heads recommended that NPF should foster inter-agency collaboration with other sister agencies through joint training programmes and intelligence-sharing.

“Having noted the level of sophistication with which modern crimes are perpetrated, the Federal Government should support NPF in its quest to continually upgrade assets in logistics and intelligence-sharing technology with its strategic partners.

“As a matter of urgency, the IGP should commission the take-off of the Police Intelligence School in Share, Kwara.

“We note that all NPF training institutions are in a state of disrepair, a state of emergency should therefore be declared in this regard.

“The curriculum of the training institutions should be reviewed to incorporate contemporary security challenges and policing realities.

“NPF should further improve on the welfare of training staff and trainees in the institutions in order to have value addition as envisaged for different training programmes.

“NPF should build capacity of personnel by promoting digital literacy initiatives to enhance professionalism,” the committee recommended.

NAN reports that the retreat, which was initiated by the committee chairman, retired I-G Aliyu Attah, and facilitated by the PSC chairman, Solomon Arase, was sponsored by the Oyo State Government.

Seven retired I-Gs who participated in the two-day retreat are Ogbonnaya Onovo, Hafiz Ringim, Mike Okiro, Sunday Ehindero and Ibrahim Idris, as well as Arase and Attah.

Also in attendance were the General Secretary of the Association of Retired Police Officers, Mr. Sunday Chukwura, and the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) South-West, Abiodun Alabi. (NAN)

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