…Northern states have highest applications
About one-third of those who applied to join the police in the ongoing recruitment process have been rejected.
The Police Service Commission (PSC) said yesterday that 190,741 of the 547,774 applicants were dropped for failure to meet conditions such as age, inappropriate credentials and inadequate physical fitness.
The nation’s commercial capital, Lagos, Southeast states and oil-rich Bayelsa, the smallest state, failed to show interest in the police job, to the disappointment of Chairman of PSC, former Inspector-General of Police Solomon Arase.
Arase, according to a statement by PSC spokesman Ikechukwu Ani, urged Southeast youths to change their indifference to Police work, adding that embracing anti-government criminal gangs will not lead them anywhere.
He urged them to be concerned about what would be the fate of the region in future, warning that no development can thrive in terror-ravaged communities.
Arase said the Commission would ensure that the recruitment is strictly based on defined criteria of merit and justice.
On the contrary, states in the North have a huge number of applicants.
According to the statistics made available by the PSC, Kaduna State with 40,272 tops the list. Anambra is in the last spot with 1,664 applicants.
Adamawa State is second with 36,398, and Borno is third with 32,048.
Benue with 31,122 is fourth, Katsina with 30,202 is fifth, Bauchi with 30,604 is sixth and Kano with 30,004 is seventh.
Ebonyi with 2,132 applications is next to Anambra from the rear, followed by Lagos with 2,324 applicants.
Bayelsa is fourth from the rear with 2,651 while Abia has 2,796 and fifth from the rear.
Following the expiration of the six-week mandatory recruitment period specified by the Federal Character Commission, the portal, which opened on October 15, will close on Sunday.
Shedding light on the recruitment, Ani said in the statement that, “of the 547,774 applicants, 358,900 were successful and have qualified for the next round of the recruitment, which include the physical, credentials, medicals and strict background checks of the applicants.”
Ani added: “A total of 84,606 applicants were rejected for being overage. Applicants are expected to be between the ages of 18 and 25.”
But he did not give the figures of those rejected for other reasons.
Arase expressed his satisfaction with the number of applications already received.
He noted that the youths have decided to show incredible interest in pursuing a career in the Nigeria Police, adding that it augurs well for the “new police we are building.”
It is not clear, however, whether the PSC will stick to the original plan of recruiting 10,000 constables per state given that many states do not have applicants up to that number.
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