THE Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Force are contemplating the extension of the police retirement age to either 65 years or 40 years in the service.
The move, it was gathered, followed the retirement of several competent police officers which had affected the effectiveness of the force.
The recommendations were among the several others presented by the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Solomon Arase, to the Inspector-General of Police, Kehinde Egbetokun, as part of plans to reform and professionalise the police force as contained in the Nigeria Police Force Scheme of Service.
Among other policies being considered under the NPF Scheme of Service is a proposal to ease out junior officers at the inspectorate cadre unless there is a conversion based on additional academic qualifications.
However, if the policy was approved, the affected policemen would not be promoted beyond the rank of Chief Superintendent.
The recommendations for inclusion in the NPF service scheme read, “Rank and file should terminate at the inspectorate cadre unless is a conversion based on additional qualification but should not rise beyond the rank of Chief Superintendent of Police.
“Non-graduates should not be promoted to the SPO cadre. The scheme of service should cover traffic warden personnel as a specialised arm of the force.
“Abolish the concept of general duty or limit it to a specific number of years after initial entry to allow new intakes to develop skills, gain competencies and acquire relevant experience to progress into specialised areas.
‘’Length of service in the NPF should be extended to either 40 years or 65 years of age, whichever comes first.’’
When asked about the proposal to ease out junior officers who failed to provide additional qualifications, the force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, simply said, ‘’A recommendation is not a policy.’’
Explaining the decision to extend the service tenure to 65 years for policemen, the spokesman for the Police Service Commission, Ikechukwu Ani, said the commission’s chairman, Arase, believed that the early retirement of seasoned police officers had robbed the NPF of what he called institutional memory.
He stated, “The chairman of the commission is saying that when you retire them too early, they go away with their institutional memory and this affects the force. They have done it (extension of service years) for the judges, and he is saying it should be extended to the police.
“At the last retreat for retired IGs, it was part of their communiqué. When they leave below 60, some of them are still young and they can still be useful to the police and the nation. When you extend their tenure, they are still in a position to contribute to the nation.’’
On the plan to peg the exit rank for junior officers who had no additional qualifications to CSP, Ani stated that the personnel had been directed to present their certificates.
‘’What I know is that they asked those with additional qualifications to submit their certificates. The policy behind it is that they can move up to fill certain positions.
“There are some policemen that read law and they are corporals and they go to court to represent the police and the NBA (Nigerian Bar Association) said it is wrong. The chairman said there is a need for them to be in short service and upgraded so they have self-confidence in the job they do,’’ the PSC spokesman disclosed.
Meanwhile, the police reform plans have received the endorsement of retired IGs.
The Committee of Retired Inspectors-General of Police in a communique issued at the end of their retreat in Ibadan in August advocated 65 years as retirement age and 40 years as tenure of service for police personnel.
The retreat had the theme, ‘Intervention of former IGs for strategic contribution to effective policing in Nigeria.’