FACT-CHECK: Nigeria Police Force Training Exercise Commences July 25, Not July 16 As Claimed On Social Media

Claim

It was widely spread on social media that the Nigeria Police Force Training date is scheduled to kick start on Saturday, July 16th, 2022.

The claim which was posted on a Facebook group, NPF Recruitment 2021/2022 by one Lurd Starmo Richie claimed that the “Nigeria Police Force Training date is scheduled to kick start on July 16th, 2022.”

As of the time of this fact-check, the post had 106 likes, 15 comments, and 1 share.

The NPF And Its Training Department

The Nigeria Police Force is the principal law enforcement agency in Nigeria. It has staff deployment across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The command and control of the Nigeria Police Force is under the Inspector General of Police. For administrative ease, the Force is divided into seven (7) administrative departments, viz. Finance and Administration; Operations; Logistics; Force Criminal Investigation Department; Training; Research and Planning; and Information and Communication Technology, each headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police.

The current and 21st indigenous Inspector-General of Police is IGP  Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), fdc, NPM (born 1 March 1963). He was appointed by the President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari to replace Mohammed Adamu who retired from Nigeria Police Force in February 2021. The Police Council on Friday, June 4, 2021, confirmed the appointment of Alkali Usman Baba as the substantive Inspector General of Police.

Nigeria Police was first established in 1820. During the colonial period, most police were associated with local governments (native authorities). In the 1960s, under the First Republic, these forces were first regionalized and then nationalized. The British merged the Lagos colony and the southern and northern protectorates in 1913 and named the new colony Nigeria.

The northern and southern regional police forces were later merged, in 1930, to form the colony’s first national police – the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

NPF Training And Development Department is one of the seven departments in the Nigeria Police Force. It plans for and coordinates all the activities to meet the training needs of the Force. The department coordinates the recruitment process of the force; staff and manpower development; training and retraining of officers and men of the Force.

It is specifically saddled with the task of formulating and implementing policies on training and manpower development to keep the force in alignment with the dynamic nature of the society. Through its activities, the department works assiduously to ensure that the force executes its cardinal responsibilities of protection of life and property as well as the preservation of peace and order in the society.

The Department is headed by DIG DANMALLAM MOHAMMED fdc.

In view of the importance attached to training in the Nigeria Police Force, especially on standard and uniformity, the department is not replicated like other departments at the zonal and state command levels. Therefore, it coordinates all activities of the force with regards to training and manpower development from the Force Headquarters, Abuja. At this level, it operates three sections headed by Commissioners of Police-Administration, Training, Inspectorate

ROUNDCHECK Findings

A press statement was tweeted on the official Nigeria Police Force Twitter handle @PoliceNG on Sunday 18th July 2022 at exactly 4:38 pm with a headline caption, 2021 RECRUITMENT EXERCISE: SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES TO CHECK APPLICATION STATUS ON RECRUITMENT PORTAL, PRINT INVITATION SLIP. The press statement was signed by CSP Oluuyiwa Adejobi, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO)

Earlier before the press release, ROUNDCHECK in a bid to confirm the claim contacted the PPRO on Thursday 15th July 2022 through a phone conversation where he requested that a message be forwarded to him as regards the findings. 

In his response reply to the earlier SMS sent to him, the PPRO stated that NPF will make the announcement soon.

He said “We will make an announcement on the commencement of their training soon. So, be on the lookout.”

A few days after the findings, the NPF released a press statement where it gave a breakdown of activities for the 2021 recruitment exercise.

According to the statement, activities for the 2021 Recruitment “ commences on July 23, 2022, for the successful candidates out of  the Ten Thousand (10,000) successful candidates who participated in the medical screening exercise which was held on May 17th and 31st, 2022.

“… Successful candidates are advised to print out their Invitation Slip and proceed to the Police Training College/School indicated against their names. The training exercise for successful candidates commences on Monday, July 25th, 2022.”  

It also added: “The Force, while congratulating successful candidates, encourages them to check the recruitment portal for further information and directives that would aid their preparations in reporting for training.

“They are equally enjoined to note that the documentation of new recruits in the Training Colleges/Schools opens on Saturday, July 23, 2022, and closes on Sunday, July 30, 2022. Any candidate who fails to report within the specified period would be considered to have declined the offer.”

Verdict

ROUNDCHECK can conclude that the claim that the Nigeria Police Force Training date is scheduled to kick start on July 16th, 2022 is FALSE.

The training will commence on Monday, July 25th, 2022.