In a bid to get firsthand information to help make the Police force more effective, the newly inaugurated Board of the Police Service Commission (PSC) has taken a tour of Enugu state.
This is even as they have secured a donation of N20 million from a Business man and Philanthropist, Arthur Eze, to renovate the Police College in Enugu, which they said was in a sorry state.
The commissioners who went on the tour included: Dr. Nkemka Jombo-Ofo the host commissioner in Enugu, Barrister Rommy Mom, Hajia Najatu Muhammed and Mr. Austin Braimoh, who were all recently confirmed as Commissioners and sworn in by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The visit to Arthur Eze followed an earlier visit to the Police College where members of the board, some of whom were almost moved to tears, saw for themselves, the sorry state of infrastructure in the college.
The board members accompanied by the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Danmallam Mohammed, described as shocking the poor state of the Nigerian Police College.
They wondered how such a college meant for the training of new recruits could be so dilapidated: the hostels were without roofs, no water, women had their shower outside while the bushes nearby had been converted to their toilet.
While narrating the state of the college to the Businessman, they pledged to draw the attention of stakeholders to such an eyesore and promised to give the college a new look in order to increase its capacity to train more students.
Apparently moved by the state of the College, the Businessman handed a cheque of N20 million to the Commissioner of Police in Enugu state for the renovation of the college.
He thanked members of the Police Service Commission for bringing the matter to his attention, while describing the college as one of the nation’s leading police institutions in the past.
He berated previous members of the PSC for neglecting such an important institution.
Responding, Barr. Rommy Mom described Prince Eze’s donation as timely and thanked him for granting the commission such audience even at short notice.
He promised that the donation would be properly utilized in giving the college the befitting face-lift it deserved.
Our correspondent reports that the board members began their tour first with a visit to the Governor of Enugu state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who was visibly elated to receive them.
While welcoming the members, Ugwuanyi described the job of the Police Service Commission as a thankless job, stated that with the quality of personalities appointed to the commission, he believed that a number of issues affecting the Nigerian Police Force would be effectively resolved.
He called on the commission to see him as a partner in the commission’s mandate to build a police force the Nigerian people could be proud of.
He donated a vehicle to the commission and a building to serve as the office of the Police Service Commission in Enugu State.
Ugwuanyi also pledged to sponsor the first strategy retreat for the police service commissioners to be held in Enugu.
Responding the commissioner representing the Chairman of Police Service Commission, Austin Braimoh described Governor Ugwuanyi as an astute administrator and thanked him for his kind gesture.
He noted that the Police Service Commission would continue to confer with the governor on the commission’s efforts to build a model police force.
