The Police Service Commission, PSC, has shortlisted 110,469 applicants out of the 338, 250 applicants invited for the just concluded screening at the states and FCT Police Commands.

Mike Okiro, Chairman of the commission, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday, saying that the aptitude tests for the successful candidates would begin on August 22across the 36 states and FCT.

He said that out of the 110, 469 applicants, 22, 454 were shortlisted for Cadet Assistant Superintendents of Police, ASPs; 24, 456 for Cadet Inspectors and 63, 559 for Police Constables.

Okiro clarified that aptitude test for cadet ASPs for both general duty and specialists will begin on August 22; that of Cadet Inspectors for both general duty and specialists will hold on August 23; while the test for police constables for both cadres would take place on August 24.

The former Inspector-General of Police, said that document and physical screening of specialists is scheduled for August 29 after they must have taken the aptitude tests.

He maintained that the PSC adhered strictly to the requirements needed from the applicants for the exercise.

He said that some of the applicants were screened out for over age, alteration and falsification of documents and year of graduation.

Also taken into consideration were physical features, tattoo marks, first school leaving certificate, certificate of state of origin and class of degree or diploma.

He said that over 115 applicants were arrested during the screening for forgery and impersonation and have been handed over to the police for investigation and prosecution.

The chairman restated the commission’s desire to sustain the integrity of the exercise, saying that questions for the tests would only be disclosed to the coordinators on the examination date.

He reassured Nigerians that the exercise would be transparent and all applicants would be given equal opportunities to pursue a career in the police, warning that any candidate caught undermining the integrity of the exercise would be prosecuted in line with extant laws.

Okiro said that emails have been sent to all shortlisted applicants, adding that the master list for each state had been sent to all state commands to paste at command headquarters and examination centres.

The chairman said that the commission was not under pressure from any quarter to favour any candidate.

The commission received 911,438 applications comprising 262, 462 for cadet ASPs, and 211,832 for cadets Inspector and 437,144 for police constables and shortlisted 338,250 for the screening.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on taking over government promised to increase the capability of the Nigeria Police Force by employing 10,000 policemen.

It would be recalled that few hours after the online recruitment  exercise commenced, the portal crashed as a result of heavy traffic, as thousands of unemployed Nigerians tried to gain access.