By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

Ten thousand police constables that passed out from police training schools in the country would be deployed in providing security during the 2023 general elections. 443 of them passed out from the police training school in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.

The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, disclosed this on Thursday in Ilorin at the passing out parade of the 2022 batch of police constables.

“It is noted that after today’s event, all the graduating recruit constables will be deployed to complement officers on the forthcoming election security duties across the nation, in a bid to ensure a free, fair and credible electoral process.

“This event, which is taking place simultaneously in four premier colleges and police training schools across the country, wraps up six months of highly challenging rigorous, physical, and intellectual training activities and it signifies the transition of the recruits mainstream professional policing duties with the right orientation to meet emerging security challenges within the dictates of the rules of law.

“It should also be noted that the recruitment exercise was spread over the 774 local government areas of the country with due regard to federal character considerations and in line with the directives of Mr President,” the inspector general of police stated.

Baba, who was l represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 8, Ashafa Adekunle, added that, “in the attainment of community policing goals, the recruits will all be posted back to their various local government areas to further entrench the policing strategy of the federal government towards addressing communal crimes in their respective areas of purview.”

He told the new police recruits that the bedrock of policing is discipline, adding that “much as you have a promising and brighter career ahead of you, how far you go in this career depends, to a great extent, on your character, discipline, and integrity.”

Kwara State governor, AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq was represented at the event by his senior special assistant on Security, Alh Muyideen Aliyu, while the Baba Isale of Ilorin represented the Emir of Ilorin, Alh Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari.

The state Commissioner of Police, Paul Odama, who enjoined the new recruit policemen to maintain high level of discipline and shun corruption, later presented awards to outstanding graduands.