As Nigerians of the South-Western region gain more prominence numerically in the United Kingdom, British Metropolitan Police Service has kickstarted a recruitment exercise to employ new officers with an understanding of the Nigerian native language, Yoruba and other languages.
A total of 14 languages which have a high prevalence in London’s communities have been chosen for what the Met called a month-long pilot recruitment which started on Monday.
This move was initiated by the British Metropolitan Police Service in order to set up a standing team that will perfectly relate with the individuals in the diverse communities where they operate.
The statement said in part, “It follows the introduction last year of a London Residency criteria to ensure candidates have a strong link to the capital and an understanding of its diversity and cultures. Candidates who apply to be police constables will be tested in the second language as part of our rigorous selection process.
"The chosen languages are Yoruba (Nigeria), Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Italian, German, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Sinhala (Sri Lanka) and Bengali."
The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Bernard Howe, noted that more than 300 languages were spoken in London, the capital of Britain.
"I am committed to providing a police service which looks and feels more like London. We need to recruit and deploy officers with second languages in areas where those languages are spoken. I believe it will help boost confidence, help to solve crime more effectively and support victims and witnesses," Howe said.
This is a massive boast to Nigerians who are already neglecting local languages for the official language which is English.
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