Solomon Arase, PSC  Chairman, Introduces Gender, Zonal Balancing in Police Officers’ Deployment

Solomon Arase, PSC  Chairman, Introduces Gender, Zonal Balancing in Police Officers’ Deployment

OpenLife Nigeria reports that the Police Service Commission has approved new policy guidelines for deployment  of Management  and Tactical Commanders in the Nigeria Police Force and the imperativeness for gender-senstivity in the deployment of Assistant Inspectors- General of Police and Commissioners of Police to Zonal and  state Command Headquarters.

In a statement signed by Ikechukwu Ani,Head, Press and Public Relations and made available to OpenLife on Sunday morning, the Commission considered and approved the policy guidelines at its 21st Plenary Meeting which held at its Corporate Headquarters in Jabi,  Abuja on Thursday, June 15th 2023 and presided over by its Chairman, Dr. Solomon Arase, CFR, retired Inspector General of Police.

The Commission said the Nigeria Police Force should 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.

It observed that the current deployment of Commissioners of Police 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 was 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.

The Commission at Plenary and relying on Section 6(e) and (7) of the Police Service Commission Act which empowers the Commission  to ‘formulate and implement policies aimed at the efficiency and discipline in the  Nigeria Police Force; and perform such other functions which in the opinion of the Commission  are required to ensure the optimal efficiency of the Nigeria Police Force considered and approved the new Policy guidelines.

Henceforth 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.

All geo-political zones of the country must now have at least 15 percent representation in the deployment of Assistant Inspectors-General  of Police to Zones, Commissioners of Police to State Commands and posting of Commanding  Officers of Police Mobile Force, Counter-Terrorism CTU and Special Protection Unit (SPU).

That all Police deployments to zones and Commands at both Management  (Deputy Commissioners of Police and Assistant Commissioners of Police and Tactical levels (Commanding Officers of PMF/SPU/CTU, must recognise  our heterogeneity and reflect  fairness and equity in terms of ethnicity  and religion.

The Commission advised the Inspector General to be guided  appropriately  by this Policy guidelines founded on principles  of fairness and justice to all members of the NPF.

It is also geared towards eliciting trust and confidence of the Nigerian people and taking ownership of their Police in showing greater understanding, cooperation and support to the NPF towards improved community safety and adequate internal security in Nigeria.

The Commission on its Policy on Imperativeness of Gender-senstivity in the Deployment of AIGs and CPs noted 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.

It observed that this will in no time portray the Police as an organisation that is anti-woman empowerment and averse to women inclusivity in governance.

The Commission also considered and approved that “at least three state Commands out of the thirty seven Commands must have female Police Officers as their Commissioners of Police and out of the seventeen Zonal Headquarters, at least one Zone must have a female AIG to head the zone.”

The Commission had also at the Plenary Meeting approved the appointment of two Deputy Inspectors General of Police, approved the promotion of 14 Commissioners of Police to the next rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police which included 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 Commissioners of Police and which also included DCP Enyinnaya Inonachi Adiogu, who was formally Deputy Commissioner Special Fraud Unit (SFU) Ikoyi Lagos.