By Augustine Ehikioya
With a week to the closure of recruitment portal, the Police Service Commission (PSC) on Sunday disclosed that five hundred and forty-seven thousand, seven hundred and seventy four (547,774) applications for recruitment into the Constable cadre of the Nigeria Police Force have so far been received.
The Police Recruitment portal is expected to close Sunday, November 26, 2023.
A statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations of PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, and made available to Security Watch Africa (SWA), said that the closing date marks exactly the 6 weeks mandatory requirement for such exercise by the Federal Character Commission as the Portal was opened on the 15th of October, 2023.
It reads “Out of the 547,774 applicants, 358,900 were successful and have qualified for the next round of the recruitment process which includes the physical, credentials, medicals and strict background checks of the applicants.
“A total of 84,606 applicants were rejected for over age. Applicants are expected to be between the ages of 18 and 25.
“Kaduna State maintained its first position as the State with the highest number of applicants with 40,272 with Anambra still stuck in the last position with 1664. Adamawa State is second with 36,398 applications, Borno State third with 32,048. Benue State with 31,122 is fourth, Katsina State with 30,202 is 5th, Bauchi State with 30,604 is 6th while Kano with 30,004 is 7th.
“Ebonyi State with 2132 applications is next to Anambra from the rear, followed by Lagos State with 2324 applicants. Bayelsa State is 4th from the rear with 2651 while Abia has 2796 and 5th from the rear.”
Dr. Solomon Arase, retired Inspector General of Police, the statement said, expressed his satisfaction with the number of applications already received.
He observed that it is obvious that Nigerian youths have decided to show incredible interest in pursuing a career in the Nigeria Police, a development he said augurs well for the “new Police we are building”.
He appealed once again to the youths of the South-East to change its indifference to Police work, insisting that embracing anti-government criminal gangs will not lead them anywhere.
He advised that they should be concerned on what becomes of the region in the future as no development can thrive in a terror ravaged communities.
He noted that the Commission will do its best to ensure that the recruitment is strictly based on defined criteria with merit and justice prevalent throughout the processes.
