The Nigeria Police Trust Fund ( NPTF) has trained over 10,700 police personnel since its inception five years ago.
The training of the policemen was targeted at enhancing the skills and performance of police officers in the country.
The NPTF executive secretary, Mohammed Sheidu disclosed this at the opening ceremony of a two-day management retreat organised by the Fund for stakeholders in Ilorin, Kwara State yesterday.
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, Mrs Esther Oluyomi.
The workshop has “Building A Secured Nigeria Through Effective NPTF Intervention for the Nigeria Police Force” as its theme.
The NPTF executive secretary said that training and retraining of police officers is imperative and key to strengthening the Nigeria Police .
Sheidu also said 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”.
Sheidu , who lamented the ongoing court case challenging its operational funding with the 0.5 per cent derivation from the federal allocation, said that the court litigation has hindered its optimal performance.
He said though 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 realisation 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 the senior special assistant on Security, Alh Muyideen Aliyu, 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, who said that Kwara is yet to enjoy much benefits from the NPTF called 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 the 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, who applauded the management wondered where the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) would have been without the fund.
He requested two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) from the fund for his command to enhance security in the state.