President Bola Tinubu has signed the Nigeria Police Training Institutions Establishment Bill, 2024, into law.

The law grants statutory recognition to 48 police training institutions across the country.

The bill, sponsored by Ahmed Malam-Madori (APC–Jigawa North East), aimed to institutionalise police education, professional development, and global best practices in law enforcement.

The law recognises five categories of police training institutions across the six geopolitical zones.

These include police colleges, police training schools, police tactical schools, police technical training schools, and other specialised institutions.

Prominent among the now legalised police colleges are those in Ikeja (Lagos), Kaduna (Kaduna), Maiduguri (Borno), Oji River (Enugu), Jos (Plateau), and the Police Detective College in Enugu.

The law entrenched police training schools in key locations, including Bauchi, Minna, Sokoto, Benin, Wanune, Calabar, Ilorin, Ibadan, Iperu, Jos, Owerri, and Nonwa-Tai.

Others are in Oyin-Akoko, Ekiti, Gwaram, Malabu-Fufore, Bende, and several other strategic centres to expand grassroots training.

Empowered under the law, police tactical schools now offered elite operational training for units like the mobile police and counter-terrorism forces.

These include mobile training schools in Gwoza (Borno), Ila-Orangun (Osun), and Ende-Hill (Nasarawa) and CTU schools in Nonwa-Tai (Rivers) and Gombe (Gombe).

Other tactical schools include the SPU School in Kafin Hausa (Jigawa), K9 School in Bukuru-Jos (Plateau), and Mounted Troop School in Jos.

Also included are the marine training school in Toru-Orua (Bayelsa) and the Police Pre-Retirement Training School in Kudan (Kaduna).

Under the technical training framework, the law covers institutions such as the Police Public Relations School in Lafia and its Abuja campus.

It also includes the Central Planning and Training Unit (Jos), Police School of Intelligence (Shere, Kwara), and Schools of Communication in Kudan and Ikeja.

Others are the Police School of Music and Police Driving School, both in Ikeja, and the Veterinary Training School in Abuja.

Mr Malam-Madori, sponsor of the bill, described the presidential assent as a transformative moment in Nigeria’s internal security architecture.

“The Act will professionalise police training, deepen research in security management, and align Nigeria’s policing culture with international law enforcement standards,” he added.

(NAN)