The commissioner representing the South-East in the Police Service Commission, Onyemuche Nnamani, has urged the Abia government to maintain adequate security.

Mr Nnamani said this on Thursday when he paid Governor Alex Otti of Abia a visit in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South LGA.

Mr Nnamani said he was in Abia to supervise the screening of applicants for the ongoing police constables recruitment. He said he observed peace and calm, which showed that the government was taking strategic steps to keep Abia secure.

“We commend you for those efforts, and I urge you to do everything possible to maintain adequate security in the state. I also want to say that, coming here, nobody warned me, including my wife, and nobody panicked.

“If I had said I was going to neighbouring states, a lot of warnings would have come, and I would have gone to the police to get extra security. I came here on my own without anybody, which means there is calm, but it is not yet Uhuru. There is still room to improve,” he said.

Mr Nnamani described the continuous improvement of security as essential for progress in addressing insecurity and urged the government to remain committed to establishing peace and stability.

He commended the Abia government for its efforts towards mobilising youths to apply for police force jobs, adding that it would aid in tackling apathy to police recruitment in the state and the South-East region.

“Last month, we finished that of the Police Academy for those that underwent training to be police officers and Abia was fully represented. In this exercise, about 2,000 people applied from Abia, while other states in the North received up to 30,000 applications. It is not yet Uhuru; a lot of improvement is still required,” Mr Nnamani said.

He said the commission had been mandated to recruit 10,000 persons into the police and added that President Bola Tinubu had approved the recruitment of another 30,000 persons into the force.

Mr Nnamani said these recruitment exercises would greatly help solve the manpower problem experienced by the police.

He also said there had been an improvement in the turnout of applicants for the Police Force job in Abia and urged the people of Abia to endeavour to meet the state quota for the upcoming recruitment.

Mr Otti described security as key to development but said, “Unfortunately, most people do not show interest in security.”

He said insecurity was retarding Nigeria’s development.

“Assuming that Boko Haram and all the things that came with it did not happen, we would have been very far away from where we are today,” Mr Otti said.

He said any investment made in security could not be regarded as a waste, but sometimes people don’t understand and tend to be impatient.

Mr Otti said apathy towards enlisting in the Police Force could result from not wanting to go through the rigours of rising through the ranks and regimented authority.

He expressed delight that the efforts made to get the people of Abia to apply for the job yielded fruit, although the figure is still very low compared with what other states have.

Mr Otti added, “A lot of senior police started out just like you. So, I am happy that members of my team are here and even though we didn’t do well with this initial 10,000, we should do well in the impending one for the 30,000 target.

“The truth is that a lot of our people are still either unemployed or under-employed, so there is no reason why they should not apply if they are qualified.”

(NAN)