Ugwuanyi seeks more enlistments into police to guarantee South East security

Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, at the weekend, stated that more enlistments of South East persons into the Nigeria Police Force will guarantee security of the region and its future generations.

He stated that there was no way maximum security could be achieved in the zone when her sons and daughters have continued to fill the slot allocated to the region in the Force, insisting that there was no development without security.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Enugu, the governor, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Uchenna Ortuanya, urged residents of the state to develop interest to enlist in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), assuring that the state government would continue to work hard to ensure security of the state.
Commissioner representing the South East region in the Police Service Commission (PSC), Onyemuche Nnamani, had raised concerns over the low enrollment of youths from the South East in the NPF.

Nnamani said that the PSC organised the town hall meeting to sensitise residents of the state on the need for youths to join the NPF, adding that the meeting became necessary following the lack of interest in the NPF by youths of the zone and that even those who applied were not the best from the region.

“An additional concern is the fact that most of the applicants seem academically challenged, as over 90 per cent have consistently failed to score up to 30 per cent in the examinations.

“This is a sad reflection of the caliber of officers that patrol our communities, because these persons actually end up enlisted in the police,” he said.

He added that the issues border on security of life and property of the people and that the best time to talk about it is now, adding that the PSC was making effort to reform the system.

“The purpose of this meeting is to act in order to change the unsatisfactory development. Our people should join the armed forces,” he said, pointing out that the sensitisation would be taken to all states of the region.

Speaking, a Consultant to PSC, Prof. Felix Asogwa, said the situation presented by the data as it affected the region in the recruitment process was worrisome, adding that 81, 000 persons had so far applied nationwide, and that only about 7, 652 of applications were from the South East.