Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of the Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, has advised President Bola Tinubu against recruiting 20,000 additional police officers, urging instead that existing personnel be properly equipped to tackle insecurity effectively.
Cardinal Onaiyekan made this call on Thursday at the 9th International Conference on Love and Tolerance in Abuja, warning that the nation cannot afford delays in tackling insecurity.
“Right now in Nigeria, we have to build bridges so that all of us, Christians and Muslims, can jointly face our common enemy… Those who are killing us.
“We have finally agreed that we shall join hands and face them. And if we join hands, we can deal with them now. We should be able to deal with them.
“With all these wonderful soldiers and police, we should be able to deal with them. I’m not even sure we need 20,000 more policemen. I believe they are the ones we have right now. Arm them well, treat them well, and they will do their job,” he said.
He also reflected on global religious harmony, warning that Nigeria faces increasing local polarisation despite global unity efforts.
Recall that the president recently announced that he would be recruiting 20,000 additional police officers.