Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has launched the Police Specialized Services Automation Project (POSSAP) which is a centralized automation process of applying for police services and generating funds for the welfare of the force.
Speaking at the launching ceremony in Abuja, the inspector-general of police, IGP Usman Baba, said the launch of the POSSAP is a concept of rendering specialized services by the police, which is a global practice, and as such, designed to generate complimentary revenue for the police in order to augment funding constraints which usually hamper operational capabilities.
He said, “The POSSAP as approved by the federal government is intended to achieve three fundamental objectives. First is to ensure the standardisation of the process of offering police services. Second is to guarantee accountability in the process, and third is to act as a source of complementary revenue which will be channelled to augment the personnel welfare, as well as other administrative and operational needs of the Force. The initiative is, in fact, in line with the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI) of the federal government which is aimed at improving revenue sufficiency for critical agencies of government.
“Today’s launch, therefore, will activate the first phase which covers only three of the specialized police services in the first phase. These are Specialized Escort and Guard Services; Police Character Certificate and Police Extract. It is my expectation that this initiative will in the long-run be a catalyst that will positively change the Nigeria Police administrative and operational narratives.”
The minister of police affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, said, “Hitherto, the Nigeria Police has provided specialized services such as requests for police character certificate, police extract, specialized escort and guard Services, etc.
“However, the current manual mode of processing the delivery of these services is devoid of the basic tenets of accountability and transparency. For these reasons, the need to automate the processes became imperative.”
Speaking on the security challenges along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, the IGP said “I wish to use this opportunity to re-assure Nigerians that the Nigeria Police are collaborating effectively with the military, Department of State Services, the ministry of transport, and the Nigerian Railway Corporation towards evolving a resilient security architecture that will address the current threats on a sustainable basis.
“In the interim, aside up scaling our patrol operations along the highway, we have deployed our air assets for aerial surveillance in support of the ground police teams.
In addition, we have re-invigorated the ‘Operation Safer Highway’ with the injection of more patrol vehicles and personnel across the country. We have similarly strengthened ‘Operation Restore Peace’, the Special Anti-Secessionist Operation in the South East with the deployment of more special operational Units and assets of the Force.”
The IGP also revealed that the police has acquired a national Police Short Code, ‘933’ for free emergency calls and information sharing between the Police and citizens.
