The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Usman Baba has stressed the need for continuous training for policemen to ensure quality service delivery to Nigerians.
Baba said this at a public hearing by the joint Committees of the National Assembly on Police Affairs on Wednesday in Abuja.
The hearing was on a bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Police Force College, Training and Institutions.
Baba said that when the bill was passed, the training institutions of the force would be legally recognised, as well ensure guaranteed funding from the budget.
“We do not have any of our schools being budgeted for and that is why we have gap in our training processes,” he said.
Baba said that the police had training in three categories starting from the point of entry.
“You need to go for training to move from one rank to another and you need to go for specialised training to function in specialised departments.
“If you want to be a mobile police, we will need to train you in that, if you want to be in investigation, we need to train you to be an investigation officer, we need to train you in communication to be a communications officer.
“These are development that the service requires and need in order to give better service delivery to the teaming masses of this country.
“The need for training and retraining cannot be overemphasised, we cannot make a good police officer without training, training and experience are the best teachers,” he said.
Earlier, the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila said that the aim of the public hearing was to harvest contributions of stakeholders in providing legal framework for police training institutions.
He said that the legal framework would make the institutions more relevant, deepen their activities and ensure more funding.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Sen. Haliru Jika said that the need to strengthen the police cannot overemphasised. (NAN)
