Beyond salary increment for police personnel

No doubt, our policemen deserve a better deal.  So, I congratulate the government for increasing the salaries of policemen. But beyond that, the government should also look into the issue of arms and ammunition. There are reports that armed robbers have more sophisticated equipment and that should not be the case. Another challenge being faced […]

No doubt, our policemen deserve a better deal.  So, I congratulate the government for increasing the salaries of policemen. But beyond that, the government should also look into the issue of arms and ammunition. There are reports that armed robbers have more sophisticated equipment and that should not be the case.

Another challenge being faced by the police is shortage of personnel. By the United Nations standard, there should be one policeman to 400 people. Unfortunately, Nigeria, with a population of about 200 million people, has only about 370,000 policemen. The issue of promotion should also be addressed.

As much as we advocate better welfare for the police, we also urge the operatives to do more to safeguard lives and property. They should be more proactive in their approach. They should not always wait for criminals to strike before they respond.

The security personnel should give more emphasis to intelligence gathering.

Nurudeen Dauda wrote from Kaduna, and can be reached at: [email protected]