443 Police constables out of a total number of 10, 000 men that passed out on Thursday in Kwara will be deployed to provide security during the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
Speaking at the passing out parade of the 2022 batch of Police constables in Ilorin, Kwara, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, said that the deployment was aimed to ensure a free, fair and credible electoral process.
“It is noted that after today’s event, all the graduating recruit constables will be deployed to complement officers on the forthcoming election security duties across the nation, in a bid to ensure a free, fair and credible electoral process.
“This event, which is taking place simultaneously in four premier colleges and police training schools across the country, wraps up six months of highly challenging rigorous, physical, and intellectual training activities and it signifies the transition of the recruits’ mainstream professional policing duties with the right orientation to meet emerging security challenges within the dictates of the rule of law.
“It should also be noted that the recruitment exercise was spread over the 774 local government areas of the country with due regard to federal character considerations and in line with the directives of Mr President,” the Police boss said.
The IGP, who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 8, Ashafa Adekunle, said that the recruits would all be posted back to their various local government areas to further entrench the policing strategy of the federal government towards addressing communal crimes in their respective areas of purview, in the attainment of community policing goals.
He told the new police recruits that the bedrock of policing is discipline, adding that, “much as you have a promising and brighter career ahead of you, how far you go in this career depends to a great extent, on your character, discipline, and integrity”.
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara was represented at the event by his Senior Special Assistant on Security, Alhaji Muyideen Aliyu, while the Baba Isale of Ilorin represented the Emir of Ilorin, Alhji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari.
The State Commissioner of Police, Paul Odama, enjoined the recruits to maintain a high level of discipline and shun corruption and later presented awards to outstanding graduates.
