South East Shuns Police Recruitment, Anambra Least As Portal Closes, Arase Warns Region’s Youths

By Ayodele Oni

A week to the closing of recruitment portal, the Police Service Commission, (PSC), on Sunday, gave an update on ongoing recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force.

PSC disclosed that it has so far received a total of 547,774 applications for recruitment into the Constable Cadre of the Nigeria Police Force.

The Commission, however, announced further that the Police Recruitment portal will close on Sunday, November 26, 2023.The portal, was opened on the 15th of October 2023, five weeks ago.

It will be exactly the six weeks mandatory requirement for such exercise by the Federal Character Commission.

A statement  by the Commission on Sunday explained that “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 being 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 – 40,272. Anambra is in the last position with 1664.

“Adamawa State is second with 36,398 applications, Bornu 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 2,132 applications is next to Anambra from the rear, followed by Lagos State with 2,324 applicants. Bayelsa state is 4th from the rear with 2651 while Abia has 2796 and 5th from the rear. ”

Chairman of the PSC, Dr. Solomon Arase (IGP Retd) 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 augured 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 about what becomes of the region in the future as no development can thrive in 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.