BY BRIGHT JACOB
The Police Service Commission has approved new policy guidelines for the deployment of management and tactical commanders in the Nigeria Police Force and the imperativeness for gender sensitivity in the deployment of Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police to zonal and state command headquarters.
The commission considered and approved the policy guidelines at its 21st plenary held at its Corporate Headquarters in Jabi, Abuja on Thursday and was presided over by its Chairman, Solomon Arase.
The PSC urged the NPF to be guided by the principle of federal character in both recruitment, at all levels, and deployment of its personnel at management and tactical levels to ensure balance, equity, and fairness in the system.
The spokesperson for the PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, made the development known in a statement on Sunday.
Ani said, “It (the PSC) observed that the current deployment of CPs to state commands leaves much to be desired in reflecting the principle of equity and fairness to all geo-political zones of the country, stressing that the current statistics of such deployments were against the North East and South East geopolitical zones.
“The commission observed the disproportional distribution and lopsided deployment of command commissioners and noted that it has become extremely important that a fair representation of all geo-political zones is always reflected in these deployments to eschew and address the feeling and sense of marginalisation and injustice by certain zones of the country in the Nigeria Police Force.
“Henceforth, the request for deployment of Commissioners of Police to state commands must ensure that the disadvantaged zones are considered first in the proposals to the commission in order to redress the present imbalance and lopsided deployments skewed against the North East and South East regions of the country.”
The PSC further advised the Inspector General of Police to be guided appropriately by the policy guidelines, which it said were founded on the principles of fairness and justice to all members of the NPF.
On its policy on the imperatives of gender sensitivity in the deployment of AIGs and CPs, the PSC noted that the continued practice of lopsided deployments of only male police officers to zones and commands with no fair consideration and representation of female police officers who are qualified for such positions.
Ani added, “The PSC observed that this will in no time portray the police as an organisation that is anti-women empowerment and averse to women inclusivity in governance.
“The commission also considered and approved that at least three state commands out of the 37 commands must have female police officers as their Commissioners of Police and out of the 17 zonal headquarters, at least one zone must have a female AIG to head the zone.”
Meanwhile, at the plenary, the commission also approved the appointment of two Deputy Inspectors General of Police, the promotion of 14 CPs to the next rank of Assistant Inspectors-General of Police which includes CP Adebowale Williams, who was until his promotion, the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State command.
The commission also approved the promotion of 22 Deputy Commissioners of Police to substantive CPs; this also includes Enyinnaya Adiogu, who was formerly the DCP Deputy, Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi Lagos.
