The North continues to show more interest in the armed forces as 104,403 Northerners applied to join the police in their ongoing recruitment exercise.
This compares poorly to the 23,088 who applied from the south.
The candidates, about 127,491 candidates will from Tuesday storm the various state police command headquarters nationwide for physical screening.
The breakdown according to The Punch showed that Abia State has 596 constable applicants; Akwa Ibom 3,536; Anambra 314; Bayelsa 759; Cross River 2,704; Delta 976; Ebonyi 463; Edo 1,206; Ekiti 1,417; Enugu 707; Imo 852; Lagos 562; Ogun 1,154; Ondo 2,472; Osun 2,006; Oyo 1,767 and Rivers 1,597.
Others are Plateau 4,100; Kebbi 3,596; Katsina 7,605; Kano 7,557; Kaduna 7,436; Jigawa 4,951; Benue 6,578; Adamawa 8,206; Bauchi 7,140; Borno 8,693; Federal Capital Territory 4,418; Kogi 4,412; Kwara 2,410; Nasarawa 4,700; Niger 4,672; Sokoto 2,450; Taraba 4,075; Yobe 4,992; Gombe, 4,416 and Zamfara 1,990.
The candidates have been directed to visit specified police commands with effect from February 1-20.
They are expected to appear with their National Identity Number, original and duplicate copies of credentials, certificates of origin, birth certificates or declaration of age, printouts of application and duly completed guarantor’s forms.
The message titled, ‘2021 recruitment of 10,000 police constables,’ advised the officers in charge of the exercise to ensure that screened candidates are recommended only on merit.
It cautioned against corrupt practices and admonished the officers to adhere strictly to the guidelines stipulated in the Police Act and Regulations.
“You are to ensure that nominated Special Investigation Bureaus are present at the various states and FCT command headquarters designated as centres for the exercise, before, during and after the physical screening.
“They are to draw up threat analysis at their respective centres and profile all invited applicants so that criminal elements are not recruited into the force,” the order from the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, read.
The police boss also directed his men to ensure that only indigenes of the state are screened, noting that the screening would be conducted on a local government basis.
