Why Police College dismissed over 200 recruits

Until 1999, when President Olusegun Obasanjo doubled the salaries of the police by folds, many secondary school dropouts or those who could not pass their Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE) joined the police colleges across the country. The upward review of the police salaries, coupled with the mass unemployment in the country made police […]

Until 1999, when President Olusegun Obasanjo doubled the salaries of the police by folds, many secondary school dropouts or those who could not pass their Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE) joined the police colleges across the country.

The upward review of the police salaries, coupled with the mass unemployment in the country made police job attractive to Nigerian youth.

Shortly after the salaries of the police was doubled during Obasanjo administration, applicants reportedly paid between N30,000 and N40,000 bribe to get into the college. Sunday Trust gathered that few years after, to join police college applicants parted with between N100,000 and N150,000 depending on the person facilitating the job.

However, a serving police constable who craves anonymity attached to an organisation in Kaduna state said the bribe which is tagged as facilitation fees has been jerked up by over 100 percent.

“It was before the last salary increment that people were paying N200,000 before gaining admission into the college. To be frank to you applicants now pay as much N300,000 to enter Police College. If you pay this amount, your application will scale through.

“I did not pay any bribe when I was joining the force over 5 years ago but some of my colleagues paid. This is not peculiar to Kaduna Police College. Paying facilitation fee to enter college has been on for sometime and the authority is aware of it,” he said.

Another way that unqualified applicants are gaining entry into the police colleges across the country through the back door, Sunday Trust gathered was through politicians.

Politicians in the country especially those who are presently holding elective positions send lists of candidates to commandant of Police College for consideration failure to oblige will put the commandant’s job on the line.

“They send lists of applicants from their local communities to the college. Whether they qualify or not the politicians often insist that the candidate should be enlisted. The leper that was dismissed from the college got in through one of the politicians,” a senior police officer at the Kaduna police college told Sunday Trust.

According to him, most of the unqualified candidates were enlisted through the aid of the politicians. His words: “these politicians see our recruitment as avenue to pay back political thugs or area boys who had worked for them during campaign. And this was how those Indian hemp smokers found their way to the college.

“A 37-year-old woman who had delivered two children through Cesarean Surgery was among the discharged recruits. She forged her certificate and brought down her age to 25. It was the lawyer of her husband who was not satisfied with her joining the police because of her age and medical condition that told us. She was one of the discharged recruits,” he added.

A cross-section of the dismissed recruits alleged that no genuine reasons were given by the college authority before they were discharged.

“I have all the entry requirements but I don’t know why I was discharged from the college after undergoing eight months training. We are suspecting that it is the commandant that on his own is indiscriminately sending us packing. I came all the way from Enugu for the training. I got in through a serving police officer who put my name on his list I did not pay kobo,” Chinyere Gabriel not real name said.

However, the commandant of the college, Sanusi A. Rufai dispelled the report that the unqualified recruits found their way into the college by bribing those in charge of recruitment at the college.

“All those alleging that they paid bribe before they were enlisted let them come out with names and I’m assuring you we will deal with any of my officers or men found wanting appropriately. We have been hearing of this but nobody has ever come to me officially. I came to the college two months ago and this screening we are doing is for the good of the public because the situation is bad that some of the discharged recruits cannot speak English. If they are allowed to go they will do more harm than good to the society,” he said.

He said the 234 police recruits discharged at the college was as a result of various offences ranging from forgery, theft and leprosy. Out of them, he said 134 General Duty and 42 tradesmen cadres were discharged by the screening team from the force headquarters, Abuja.

He said they were discharged after they were re-screened by the team from Abuja. He said the college on its own discharged 58 for fighting and Indian hemp smoking and that another 29 have been dragged to court for falsification of results.

The commandant said the screening was not meant to witch-hunt the recruits or trim down their population but that it was conceived to flush out bad eggs among the trainees at the college.

“Some of them were discharged for breaking college rules, forgery, fighting and deformity like height as well as leprosy. Many of them were discharged because of falsification of age, those who are of my age brought their age down to less than 20.

“Politicians are responsible for the problem because during recruitment exercise they will be bombarding us with lists of candidates who are most times not qualified for recruitment. We will not entertain this again. The era where police is seen as the last option or dumping ground is gone, police is now the first option,” he said.

The commandant said the recruits were discharged under section 71 to 116 of the police Act and regulations that spell out the conditions where recruits can be dismissed from the college.

Sunday Trust gathered that the 234 recruits discharged have spent eight out of the 15 months of the training. While those discharged are counting their loses, the 4800 recruits they left at the college are now living in perpetual fear and apprehension as the commandant said the re-screening exercise is a continuous one.