The former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sir Mike Okiro has expressed deep concerns over what he described as unacceptable the systematic delayed on the payment of retirement benefits to officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, and appealed to the Federal Government of Nigeria to make payment of retirement benefits a top priority.
Sir Okiro who made the plea while interacting with newsmen in Abuja, said that it became necessary in order to disabuse the mindsets of serving officers who may have tendency of act capable of tarnishing the image of the force.
The former Police boss emphasized that retired personnel should not be allowed to suffer untold hardship after contributing their quota to their father land.
Sir Okiro opined that the welfare of serving Police officers must be given adequate attention so as to cub unruly act that may undermined the reputation of the force.
“Police retired personnel should be paid as at when due, because if you don’t pay them, is a bad signal to those still in the service”, he emphasized.
He further explained that since he left office, the Police Force remained the same, adding that Nigerians are still tempting officers, because the force has not evolved a new broader steps forward.
According to him, the concerns of the Police has not been met. “By the time I left the office, officers have been recruited into the force, they have been trained with the capacity to improve the future of the service, but unfortunately, the concerns of the force has been going down drastically. We are where we are today because the Police has been neglected for a long time”.
On the reform of the Police Force, the former IGP advised that all training of the personnel should be geared towards technology-driven, adding that the reforms must be aimed at changing the face of the policing in Nigeria.
“There should also be a reform that will make room for upliftment of officers, a situation where an officer stayed for too long before promotion to the next rank is unacceptable. It make them feel redundant and debased”, he stated.
Sir Okilo, however, suggested that officers should be recommended for promotion to the next rank at least every three years.
Speaking further, Sir Okiro stressed that insecurity should not be tackled by regular policing alone, noting that it requires intelligence, special training and equipment that will give the Police steps ahead of the terrorists and be able to confront the terrorists successfully.
