The Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, has urged the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, to consider the states’ peculiarities in the recruitment of the new police officers and men.
Similarly, he said the government has been maintaining the 25 Armoured Personnel Carriers it donated to complement the work of security operatives in the state and it was planning to buy more.
He said the police must not shy away from the critical needs of each of the states of the federation in the recruitment exercise by ensuring that applicants are recruited locally and deployed to serve in their various localities after training.
Governor Oyetola spoke yesterday while addressing participants at the South West Geopolitical Zone Security Summit, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State.
He said the call is necessary in the quest to strengthen collaboration between the community and the police and as well help to enhance intelligence gathering for the police.
Oyetola noted that the engagement of locals into the police would help the institution to properly penetrate the localities and communities for effective and efficient service delivery.
The governor, who lamented the shortage of police personnel in the country, advocated for recruitment of more officers and men into the force.
In Osun, he noted, the administration has been working hard to maintain its status as one of the most peaceful and safest states in Nigeria, adding that it has also developed a security roadmap aimed at strengthening the security architecture in the state.
Describing the Summit as significant in view of the security challenges confronting the country particularly the South West, Oyetola said the recommendations from the summit would further help the governors in their bid to strengthen security in the region.
“On our part, we have been doing our best to champion the core fundamental objectives of government which is the security of lives and property of the citizens.
“We are providing logistics to our security agencies. We have maintained the available security vehicles- 25 Armoured Personnel Carriers. We are planning to buy more. We are also planning to build helipad to boost security surveillance in the state and ensure effective performance.
“We have approached the Security Chiefs to stamp out those criminals that are parading themselves as miners. It is in view of this that I commend my colleagues in the South West for the synergy that exists between us regardless of politics to keep our region safe”, Oyetola added.
