No fewer than 1,113 applicants began screening in Lagos State on Monday for recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force.
About 6,000 applicants were shortlisted for the exercise nationwide.
The Presiding Officer for the screening, ACP Okon Otoyo, gave the figure at the Police College, Ikeja, venue of the screening.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports some of the applicants reported at the venue as early as 7.30 a.m.
At 10a.m., some senior police officers began to teach them how to fill forms. They officers gave out some other instructions.
NAN reports that some applicants, ignorant of what they were expected to bring to the venue, began to purchase plastic canvass, white T-shirts and shorts when they got to the college.
Otoyo said: “We have started the screening. We have 1,113 applicants to be screened in Lagos and it will take one week.’’
Some of the candidates who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, said that they were looking forward to having a bright career in the Nigeria Police Force.
Some, however, decried the high cost of training kits such as canvass and shirts which they bought in front of the college.
“We were not told what to bring to the venue; someone only called me requesting me to check for my name on the internet; luckily, I found my name.
“There was no instruction on what to bring apart from certificates.
“It was when we got to the Police College that we discovered that some of our colleagues were putting on white-and-white kits.
“Normally, I can’t buy plastic canvass more than N600, but because of emergency, I bought mine N1,000, while some of my colleagues bought theirs more than N1000,” one of the applicants said.
Another applicant told NAN that he desired policing in spite of the hazards of the profession.
“We know a lot of things are wrong in Nigeria and we have to put them right. Although policemen and other security agents are being killed, we must join to fight crime,’’ he said.(NAN)
By Moses Omorogieva/Mateen Badru