Nigeria Police salary by ranks (2025)

The Nigeria Police is the prime law enforcement organization in Nigeria. It was created by Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with its functions. To simplify the administration of the Police, and its officer’s salary structure, it has 15 ranks.  A salary is a fixed amount an employer pays to an employee monthly. The company usually state this figure in the employment letter as an annual amount. However, the rank or position of an individual in an organization shows their level of authority.

If you would like to join the Police and want to learn about its ranks and the pay attached to each position, read on. This post will explore Nigeria police salary by ranks, its history, functions, and training facilities, how to join the Nigeria Police through the degree program, requirements for attending Nigeria Police Academy, and how to apply to attend Nigeria Police Academy. Let us start immediately from the history of the Nigeria Police.

History of the Nigeria police

The formation of the Nigeria Police dates to 1820.  In 1879, the Hausa paramilitary constabulary was established.

Also, in the North, the Royal Niger company set up the Royal Niger Constabulary in 1888.  In 1894, the Niger Coast Constabulary in Calabar for the Niger Coast Protectorate was created. Finally, in 1896 the Lagos police was formed.

After the protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria was declared, some parts of the existing police constabulary in the North and south, became the Northern Nigeria Police and Southern Nigeria Police.

Later, the colonial government nationalized the regional Police, and in 1930 the first united Nigeria Police force emerged.

Today, an Inspector-General of Police heads the Nigeria police as (IGP) with 12 operational zonal commands and 37 state commands. A zone is controlled by an Assistant Inspector General of Police, while a Commissioner of Police manages a state command.

You have an Area command headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police and a Division headed by an officer in the level of a Superintendent.

According to Wikipedia, as of 2016, Nigeria has 371,800 active Police force.

Functions of The Nigeria Police Force

Section 4 of the Police Acts and Regulations, lists Nigeria Police functions as follows:

• Implementation of laws and regulations that is within their jurisdiction.
• Security of life and property
• Arresting offenders
• Stopping and detection of crime
• Maintenance of law and order
• Carrying out military assignments in and outside Nigeria as requested by law.

Nigeria Police training

The Police have training facilities in the country for their recruits. They are listed below.

1. Nigeria Police College

There are five Police colleges for training recruits into the Nigeria police in different areas of the country. They are the Oji river, Ikeja, Kaduna, and Maiduguri police colleges.

Other organizations like Nigeria Immigration, also use these training institutions to train their recruits.

The ranks of officers trained in these facilities include cadet assistant superintendents and cadet sub-inspectors.

2. Additional Institutions

Other specialized institutions include Police Mobile Force Training School in Abuja, Counterterrorism (CTU) training school in Rivers State, Mounted Training Centre, Police Detective College at Enugu, and the Police Dogs Service Training Centre.

3. Nigeria Police Academy (NPA)

The Nigeria Police Academy (NPA) was founded in 2003 to provide Police training and academic training. The institution is in Wudil Kano state.

In 2012, the government upgraded the NPA to a degree-awarding institution. In this Academy, you will receive Police training and take academic courses for five years.

When you graduate, you will receive a bachelor’s degree and commissioning as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of the Nigeria Police.

Entry Levels into The Nigeria Police

This article will not only give you the Nigeria police salary by ranks, but it will also reveal additional facts like the entry levels into the Nigeria Police and how to join the organization.

If you admire the Nigeria police and would like to join in serving your homeland, here are the ranks through which you can join. They are:

• Constable
• Cadet Inspector
• Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police
• Nigeria Police Academy degree program

Nigeria Police salary by ranks

Below are the ranks available in the Nigerian Police and the equivalent salary attached to each level.

Rank	Salary (monthly)
Inspector General of Police	₦711,450.00
Deputy Inspector General of Police	₦546,572.80
Assistant Inspector General of Police	₦499,751.90
Commissioner of Police	₦302,970.50
Deputy Commissioner of Police	₦278,852.80
Assistant Commissioner of Police	₦212,938.20
Chief Superintendent of Police	₦199,723.96
Superintendent of Police	₦172,089.06
Deputy Superintendent of Police	₦170,399.70
Assistant Superintendent of Police	₦156,318.39
Inspector of Police	₦87,135.10
Sergeant Major	₦62,204.88
Sergeant	₦55,973.90
Corporal	₦51,113.60
Constable	₦51,113.60

How to Join the Police through the Nigeria Police Academy Program

Now that you know of the Nigeria police salary by ranks, if you are eager to join, let us explain how you can do that easily using the Nigeria Police Academy program.

The best rank through which to join the Nigeria Police is the commissioned officer level.

That means either attending the Police college and graduating as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police, only, or joining the Nigeria Police Academy  (NPA) and being commissioned into the assistant superintendent of a police rank with a bachelor’s degree.

I believe you would like to get a degree and receive a commission at the same time. So, let us show you how to “kill two birds with a stone” as they say.

The requirements for joining the NPA

Below are some of the requirements for attending the Nigeria Police Academy.

• You must be between 17 to 22 years of age.
• You should be 1.67 meters tall for males and females 1.62 meters tall, without any physical deformity.
• You must have a minimum of six credits in WAEC,  NECO  or NABTEB exams at no more than two sittings, with a credit in Mathematics and English language.
• Presenting any results, you obtained before 2015 is not acceptable
• Also, you must obtain the required scores for the written and oral interview session
• Finally, you must pass physical fitness and psychological tests.

How to apply to Attend Nigeria Police Academy (NPA)

Follow the steps below to apply online and be eligible to sit for the qualifying examination into the Nigeria Police Academy.

1. Visit the Nigeria Police Academy Portal at http://polac.edu.ng/
2. Fill the online form on the page to generate a Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) code.
3. The online application form costs N3,500.00
4. Either pay with a Card on the Remita website or print the RRR code invoice, to pay for the online application form in any branch of a Nigerian Commercial bank.
5. After paying the fee, log on to polac.edu.ng/ and create an application account
6. Next, click on the link labeled “Apply Online” and create your online application account.
7. Anytime you want to log into your account, visit polac.edu.ng/ and use the RRR code you used to create the online account as your Username.
8. Also, you must enroll for JAMB and select NPA Wudil as the first choice University.
9. Do the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), and get the cutoff mark that JAMB usually fixes each year.

Conclusion

This post is about the Nigeria police salary by ranks. You learned about the history of the Nigeria Police and its functions, police training programs and institutions, and entry category into the Nigeria Police.

We listed the ranks and the salary monthly and annually, and how to join the Police using the degree program, showed you the requirement for the police academy, and how to apply.

Since you have the information you need to join the Police, act today, join the Police now.

Also read: Nigerian Army salary by ranks