The Nigeria Police Force is planning to train up to 5,000 personnel under a trilateral security partnership involving Nigeria, the United States and Italy. The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has advanced the plans for the arrangement, which is expected to provide specialised training for officers.
The partnership would bring the three countries together to support police capacity building. The training is expected to cover specialised areas, though the force has not released details of the curriculum, timeline or funding. It is also not yet clear where the training will hold or how the 5,000 personnel will be selected.
Disu has prioritised training and retraining since taking office, and the trilateral arrangement fits into a broader push to strengthen the force’s operational capacity. The police have faced repeated calls for reform in recent years, with critics pointing to gaps in training, equipment and accountability. International partnerships have been used in the past to support specialised units and improve standards.
The involvement of the United States and Italy suggests the programme will draw on expertise from two countries with established security and law enforcement training systems. Details of what each partner will contribute have not been made public.
The force has not said when the training will begin. There is also no information on whether the programme will be run in batches or as a single exercise, or whether it will focus on specific units such as counter-insurgency, public order or investigation.
Personnel numbers remain a concern for the force, which polices a country of more than 240 million people with a strength that critics say is inadequate. Training programmes are often seen as one way to improve effectiveness, though analysts argue that equipment, welfare and accountability must also be addressed.
The Nigeria Police Force is expected to release more details on the partnership in the coming weeks. For now, the plan signals a push to deepen security cooperation with Washington and Rome, and to give thousands of officers access to specialised instruction.
