The Nigeria Police Force has revealed that the 10,000 newly recruited constables and specialists, currently undergoing training, will be deployed in February 2025.

As part of the Federal Government’s community policing initiative, the recruits will be assigned to their states of origin.

The recruitment process, conducted by the Police Service Commission, was initially met with controversy. In June, the commission released the list of successful applicants, but the police, under Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun, rejected it, citing allegations of corruption and seeking a fresh recruitment process.

The PSC stood by the integrity of the process, leading to a standoff. However, in July, the police accepted the list, and the recruits began their training.

With training underway, the February 2025 deployment will mark the culmination of this recruitment cycle, bolstering community policing efforts nationwide.

Speaking in an interview (with The Punch) on Tuesday, the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said the recruits’ training was being conducted in 16 police training institutions across the country.

He added that the training commenced on August 10, 2024, for the General Duty cadre, adding that the exercise would last for six months.

Adejobi said the specialist cadre training will commence on 28 September 2024.

He said, “The training is currently being conducted in 16 police training institutions spread across the federation. The training commenced on 10 August 2024 for the General Duty cadre and would last for six months. The specialist cadre will commence training on September 28, 2024.

“This implies that come February 2025, all the successfully trained recruits (both General Duty and Specialist) will be absorbed into mainstream policing and deployed to their various states of origin in line with the community policing scheme of the Federal Government.”

Adejobi also said the ongoing training for the newly recruited constables is guided and conducted through the implementation of a new and robust Training Plan and Curriculum.

He added, “The training plan and curriculum provide for three learning phases, the Basic Training Course, Intermediate Training Course and the Practical Police Duty Course.

“These phases will emphasise the rudiments, fundamentals, core principles and concepts of contemporary policing, suitable for a dynamic society such as our dear country, Nigeria.

“The courses being taught encompass core areas, such as practical beat duty policing, police professional studies, including suspects’ handling and detention, criminal law, emotional intelligence, distress and complaints handling, police ethics and code of conduct, public relations and community policing, fundamental human rights, gender education, firearms handling and shooting range practice, unarmed combat, use of English and French languages, ICT, forensics, general liberal and field studies, amongst others.

“Recruits will also be exposed to relevant areas of law as it relates to policing. These include knowledge of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; Nigeria Police Act, 2020; Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015; Evidence Act, 2011 (as amended); Cybercrime Prevention Act, 2015; Electoral Act 2022, etc.”