Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of the Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, has advised President Bola Tinubu against recruiting 20,000 additional police officers, emphasizing that properly equipping current personnel would be more effective in addressing Nigeria’s growing insecurity.
The call was made on Thursday at the 9th International Conference on Love and Tolerance in Abuja, where Cardinal Onaiyekan stressed the urgency of tackling insecurity without further delays.
“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,” he said.
He added:
“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.”
Cardinal Onaiyekan also reflected on global religious harmony, cautioning that while the world promotes unity, Nigeria faces increasing local polarization.
His remarks come shortly after President Tinubu announced plans to recruit 20,000 additional police officers to bolster national security.