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It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday disclosed plans by the Federal Government to recruit 10,000 policemen in his address at the National Security Summit on Community Partnership Approach to Internal Security and Crime Management, organised by the police in Abuja.

The statement quoted Buhari as saying that applicants having to pay bribes before being accepted into the police in the past was totally unacceptable.

He said the force should ensure adequate logistics for the officers and men, noting that the recruitment was a welcome development if their welfare would be well taken care of.

Continuing, Obasanjo mirrored the insurgents strikes with the Biafran war saying, For those of us who were involved in the Nigeria civil war, we set a six-month target to end the Nigeria-Biafra war, but it extended to 30 months.

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives say they are not against the anti-corruption fight of President Muhammadu Buhari, but stressed that it must be carried out without discrimination among politicians and government officials.

The Nigerian president advised the police service commission to review the current structure of the force and make recommendations on how to boost morale amid a years-long lack of promotions of personnel.

The Chairman of the PSC, Mike Okiro, said that the country needs to have more than the 305,579 policemen and women which it has at present for effective policing.

Okiro, while speaking to journalists after the meeting with the President, said Nigeria had a deficit of 19,500 policemen.

A female Nigerian police officer faces supporters of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, as police officers block the protesters from marching on the president’s official residence in Abuja on October. 14, 2014.

He said, “Over the years, more than 21,000 police officers have retired, some dismissed, some died between 2010 and today. Of this number, only about 1,500 have been replaced, leaving a deficit of a very large number”, Okiro said.

Mr Folorunsho Attah, a security consultant, said the Federal Government’s decision to recruit 10,000 persons into the force showed the seriousness of Buhari’s administration in tackling insecurity.

The Permanent Secretary said the President promised that he would continue to support the police family to ensure that they are well provided for and their welfare taken care of as well as the challenge of funding.

“We believe in this because it is President Muhammad Buhari making the promise. So when all these things have taking place, the ‘I’s dotted and ‘t’s crossed, recruitment will start”, according to him.