Nigeria’s Federal Government is set to recruit more than 94,000 new security personnel in what officials describe as an urgent response to worsening insecurity across the country.
Under the plan, the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) will take in 50,000 constables, with an online portal opening for applications between 15 December 2025 and 25 January 2026. The PSC, in a statement issued on Thursday by its Head of Protocol and Public Affairs, Torty Kalu, said the decision followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to strengthen community policing and boost internal security.
Applicants for general duty roles must present O-Level or equivalent qualifications with at least five credits — including English and Mathematics — obtained in no more than two sittings. Specialist applicants will be required to show similar competence, alongside three years’ experience and relevant trade certifications. All candidates must be Nigerian citizens by birth.
The Police recruitment drive is part of a broader expansion of the country’s security apparatus. A senior Army official, speaking anonymously, said the force was preparing to take in about 14,000 new soldiers. The Navy and the Air Force are also expected to widen their intake, although no figures were provided. In June, the Ministry of Interior announced plans to recruit 30,000 personnel across its paramilitary agencies, a process now being fast-tracked.
The hiring surge follows Tinubu’s declaration of a nationwide security emergency on 26 November, amid escalating violence in several regions. Officials hope the new recruits will help stabilise overstretched forces and strengthen security operations nationwide.
Plateau State governor Caleb Mutfwang welcomed the scale of the recruitment, saying Nigeria was in urgent need of “more boots on the ground”. During a visit to the Minister of Defence, Gen Christopher Musa (retd), in Abuja, he said the intervention arrived “at a time when security concerns were mounting”. He praised Musa’s appointment as a “strategic and timely” step and reiterated his longstanding support for the creation of state police.
Mutfwang, citing Nigeria’s vast unpoliced areas, argued the country would ultimately require more than one million police officers to meet both the UN’s recommended ratio of one officer to 500 citizens and the basic need for village-level protection. “Let at least one policeman be posted” to any community of 100 people, he said, adding that while the goal was ambitious, the government should “begin with what we have”.
Security experts have broadly welcomed the expansion but warned that numbers alone will not fix institutional weaknesses. Brig Gen Peter Aro (retd) described the planned intake as “a welcome signal” but cautioned that Nigeria must recruit “the right people”, overhaul training and modernise doctrine. He warned that adding tens of thousands of personnel to a police force already battling corruption and strained community relations could “multiply old problems”, unless recruitment and vetting were rigorous.
Aro also described the projected Army intake as insufficient, arguing that Nigeria’s size and multi-theatre conflicts required annual recruitment closer to 30,000–40,000. Without a stronger Army, he said, “every other security agency fights with limitations”.
Brig Gen Bashir Adewinbi (retd) echoed the call for thorough vetting, insisting that recruitment must not become a vehicle for political patronage. “They must ensure they employ the right people… not politically selected,” he said.
Civil society voices have also urged caution. Adebanjo Ebhoade, chair of the Committee of Chairmen of the Nigerian Bar Association (Benin Zone), called for an independent recruitment process free from “political IOUs”. And Segun Ebenezer, a member of the Oyo State Community Policing Advisory Committee, warned against repeating past mistakes in which security agencies absorbed large numbers of poorly vetted personnel.
Despite the concerns, officials insist the expansion is essential to tackling Nigeria’s deepening insecurity. What remains in question, analysts say, is whether the government can match quantity with quality — and whether the new recruits will be trained, equipped and deployed in ways that respond to the complexities of the country’s security crisis.
