The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) was established with the core mandate of enforcing law and order and ensuring that actions that could lead to a break of law and order are properly monitored.
As such, there are several police training institutions in Nigeria to train aspiring and existing officers on how to adequately carry out their responsibilities without violating the rights of those they are employed to protect.
The training of the members of the force falls under the purview of the Department of Training And Development NPF. There are other departments at the force headquarters in Abuja, but the training department plays a key role in producing world-class officers.
Core Mandates Of The Training And Development Department:
1) It coordinates all training activities in tune with world standards.
2) It coordinates the recruitment process of the police.
3) Apart from training for new recruits, it organises seminars and workshops for its senior officers in line with the latest policing standards.
4) It formulates and implements policies on training and regular manpower development
The Nigeria police training department is divided into three sections: 1) Administration, 2) Training, and 3) Inspectorate, each of the sections is headed by Commissioner of Police while the department is headed by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)
The activities of the Nigeria Police were formerly coordinated by the Ministry of Interior but we’ve seen different presidents who restructured the Federal ministries as they wish, as such the management of NPF is done by the Ministry of Police Affairs.
Police Training Institutions in Nigeria
Here is a list of police institutions and training locations in Nigeria:
| NPF Training Institutions | Town/State of Location |
| Police Training School | Iperu, Ogun |
| Police Training School | Ilorin, Kwara |
| Police Training School | Ikeja, Lagos |
| Traffic Training School | Ikeja, Lagos |
| Police Mobile Training School | Gwoza, Borno |
| Police Training School | Nonwa Tai, Rivers |
| Police Training School | Calabar, Cross River |
| Police Training School | Ibadan, Oyo |
| Police Training School | Sokoto, Sokoto |
| Police Detective College | Enugu, Enugu |
| Police School of Music | Ikeja, Lagos |
| Police Training School | Minna, Niger |
| Mounted/Dog Training Schools | Jos, Plateau |
| Police School of Anti-Terrorism | Nonwa-Tai, Rivers |
| Police Training School | Benin-City, Edo |
| Police College of Information Technology | Abeokuta, Ogun |
| Police Mobile Training School | Ila-Orangun, Osun |
| Police Training School | Oyin Akoko, Ondo |
| Police College | Oji-River |
| Police Training School | Bauchi, Bauchi |
| Police College | Ikeja |
| Police Training School | Jos, Plateau |
| Police School of Communication | Ikeja & Kaduna |
| Police College | Maiduguri |
| Police Academy | Kano, Kano |
| Police College | Kaduna, Kaduna |
| Police Staff College | Jos, Plateau |
| Police Mobile Training School | Ende Hills, Nasarawa |
| Police Training School | Makurdi, Benue |
Assessment:
Several times, the Nigeria Police Force has failed in its core mandate of maintaining internal security. In some parts of the North where terrorism is rampant, soldiers have taken over the roles of the police.
Men of the force are not only poorly trained, but some of their training centres are also in a poor state. For instance, Police College in Lagos was in a deplorable state for more than five decades until Channels TV documentary on the police college in 2013 exposed the level of decay in the police college.
At the time of this publication, some men of the police are on the highways where they collect bribes from motorists, anyone who is not ready to pay is either delayed or abused.
Aside from that, some men of the now-disbanded SARS were involved in several human rights violations.
The police have embarked on several re-branding campaigns. One of them is, “Police is your friend” their acts do not show that they are citizens’ friends.