From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna
The former Information Minister, Professor Jerry Gana has disclosed that the country required at least 6.5 million policemen for its over 160 million people to be able to adequately police the country.
He made the disclosure in an interview after the Order for the ceremonial presentation of senior men of God at the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Minna, Niger state yesterday.
Professor Gana, a member of the National Delegates Conference, said this was part of the recommendation of the conference aimed at adequately positioning the police to be able to tackle the current security challenges confronting the country.
He said the country could not presently boast of more than 400,000 policemen, a situation, he described as grossly inadequate by the UN standards.
Gana also believed that the population of the country, currently hovering between 160 million and 170 million people, require quality and large number of policemen to be able to face the current security challenges facing the country squarely.
The former Minister said part of the recommendation of the conference currently going through debate was for proper reform of the police and the armed forces with training and retraining programmes that would assist them face the insurgency in the country headlong.
He absolved the security agents in the country of any blame in the escalation of killings in the northern parts of the country, believing that if the military were to engage the terrorists squarely, it will not take days for them to level the Sambisa forests where the insurgents currently keep the Chibok girls, stressing however that if such was done, the military would be accused of genocide.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
