The Police Commission has disclosed that the Nigerian Police Force lost 12,000 men between 2013 and now due to death, desertion and retirement.
The Chairman of the commission, Mr. Mike Okiro made this known in an interview with NAN, he said there was no recruitment into the police force within that period.
He said “In the last two years, the police lost 12,000 personnel as at the last count.
“By this time next year, if we don’t recruit, the possibility of police providing adequate internal security will be called to question.
“In June 2013 when I assumed office, I wrote a memo to government that we needed to recruit police officers, especially as the election was coming up in 2015, but it was turned down.
“In that memo, I recommended 1,000 officers from every state and 500 from the FCT making it 36,500. The number of police personnel is dwindling daily in terms of strength.
“With a population of about 160 million, the ratio of Nigeria police personnel to civilians is one to 300,000.”
When asked if there will be any recruitment soon, he said “I cannot really say when we will recruit, it depends on the new government.”