The Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF) has said that it has trained 10,700 police personnel since inception.
The training of the policemen which started five years ago was targeted at enhancing the skills and performance of police officers in the country.
Mohammed Sheidu, the NPTF Secretary, disclosed this during the opening ceremony of a two-day management retreat organised by the Fund for stakeholders in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The training which was hosted by Kwara State government was coordinated by the office of the permanent secretary, Political, Cabinet and Special Services, Governor’s Office, Ilorin, Esther Oluyomi.
The workshop has “Building A Secured Nigeria Through Effective NPTF Intervention for the Nigeria Police Force’ as its theme.
Sheidu explained that training and retraining of police officers was imperative and key to strengthening the Nigerian Police, adding that 1,300 police officers were trained in his first 100 days in office, adding that, “we expand and plan to increase that number subsequently.”
He lamented the ongoing court case challenging its operational funding with the 0.5 percent derivation from the federal allocation, saying that the court litigation has hindered its optimal performance.
Sheidu noted that though the training and retraining of police officers and men are the cardinal concern of the fund, the court case has in no small way affected the rapid realization of that.
“Our major challenge is funding. As we all know there is a court case challenging the 0.5 per cent FAAC allocation and so one of the major issues we have is resources and that has to do with funding”, he said.
The Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who was represented by Muyideen Aliyu, the senior special assistant on Security, said that the country, with the support of the NPTF can enhance the capacity of the police to respond to emerging security challenges, promote community policing and improve the overall security architecture of the country.
The governor pointed out that Kwara is yet to enjoy much benefits from the NPTF, calling for the intervention of the agency in the rehabilitation of Police Training School, Ilorin, and the upgrading of the training facilities to enhance the capacity of police personnel.
The governor also called for rehabilitation of the Police Command Headquarters and some selected Divisional Police
Offices, construction of accommodation facilities, provision of operational vehicles, construction of additional Police Divisions across the three senatorial districts.
He also requested the NPTF to patronise Kwara Garment Factory for the production of police uniforms.
The Kwara State police commissioner, Victor Olaiya, applauded the disposition of the fund and its management wondered where the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) would have been without the Fund.
He requested for two Amoured Personnel Carriers (APC) from the fund for his command to enhance improved security in the state.
