Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris says the Nigeria Police loses nine thousand and twenty-eight officers to death, dismissal and retirement annually.

Idris made this known at the monthly meeting with officers from the cadre of Commissioners of Police and above in Abuja, saying the development had seriously affected the manpower of the force.

According to him, the three hundred and eight thousand police workforce was grossly inadequate for the effective policing of the more than one hundred and eighty million people in the country.

He said the country was far below the United Nations standard of one policeman to four hundred persons.

“The issue of manpower is one problem the Nigeria Police Force is facing,” he said.

On the attachment of policemen to private persons, Idris said the force would review it to ensure they worked for the general public.

“There is a need for us to have a police that will work for the generality of Nigerians,” he said.

He said he had directed police commissioners and zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, to compile the number of policemen attached to individuals in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2015 directed that police personnel attached to unauthorised and some prominent persons in the country be withdrawn and deployed to confront the security challenges in the nation.

Chairman, Police Service Commission, Mike Okiro, said more than 150,000 policemen were attached to unauthorised persons and Very Important Personalities (VIPs) in the country, saying the meeting was aimed at having a comprehensive resolution on the issue of illegal firearms in the country.

Idris said the alleged arming of militia groups by state governments and individuals was not in the interest of the country, urging the commissioners of police to embark on campaign against illegal firearms in their various commands.

Idris said plans were underway to construct an armoury for the storage of illegal firearms seized from militias across the country, saying the force had taken several measures to check security challenges across the country.