Tension in police over controversial posting policy

Aggrieved police officers allege that there is a new policy that that promotes outright witch-hunting of officers and open favouritism from a particular section of the country
– The controversial posting policy is said to be against the Police Act and rules
– Officers have complained that the reversal of postings is counter-productive with regards to fighting the myriad of security challenges confronting the country
The decision by the Buhari administration to allegedly revert over 70 per cent of the postings of officers carried out by the last administration of the in defiance to the Police Act and rules is generating tension in the Nigeria Police Force.


Vanguard reports that officers have described the new posting policy as an outright witch-hunting of officers and open favouritism from a particular section of the country.
The controversial posting policy is said to be against the Police Act and rules which stipulates that such reversals can only be carried out after a minimum of six months in their new positions.
Aggrieved officers have complained that the reversal of postings is counter-productive with regards to fighting the myriad of security challenges confronting the country.

They say the reversal of the posting of Squadron Commanders and other senior police officers to strategic positions across the country is worrying since such postings take specialization and competence into consideration.
“Though the new administration is at liberty to carry out postings and appointments, in line with the policy objectives of the new IGP, it behoves on the Police hierarchy to consider federal character principles and competence while performing these functions because the force is Nigerian Police. It is not a police of one region of the country.
“If this trend continues, there is no gainsaying that fact that moral in the police force and the progress recently reinvigorated would revert to zero level and the vibrancy that was restored would be gone,” a source said.
Meanwhile, the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a coalition of 49 civil society organisations spread across the country, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately reform the Police Service Commission (PSC).
The group’s release through its head, Okechukwu Nwanguma, followed petitions to it by angry police officers in the country who complained bitterly over the way their welfare had been handled by the PSC headed by Mike Okiro, immediate past inspector-general of police, as well as Solomon Arase, immediate past police boss.
NOPRIN, in the petition to President Buhari and obtained by NAIJ.com, said the way the PSC is currently constituted, it would always cause anger among police officers.