Mobile Policemen deployed to Borno State for the ongoing war against insurgency in the Northeast have taken to the streets, protesting their unpaid six months allowances.
The protesting policemen barricaded the
command headquarters located on Maiduguri-Kano expressway. The protest
disrupted traffic on the road.
The armed police shot sporadically into
the air, forcing motorists and residents to scamper for their safety.
The mobile policemen, who were
deployed from different states to Borno State because of the ongoing insurgency
in the state, filed out in their hundreds. They marched along the highway,
shouting that they had not been paid their allowances for the last six months.
It is customary and normal for the
police management to pay policemen for allowances if they are deployed for
special assignments.
This is not actually the first time
policemen would be downing tools in protest over unpaid allowances, but this is
the first time they threw caution to the wind and took to the streets.
Former protests usually witness
skeletal activities in most police commands, but not this overt display of
anger.
The first major protest and strike
was in 2002 during the administration of the former Inspector-General of
Police, Musliu Smith, who is now the present Police Service Commission’s
chairman.
The policemen protested over
salaries, allowances and equipment. The strike witnessed the ousting of Smith
and ushered in Tafa Balogun. Yesterday’s protest in Borno State is noticeable,
no doubt due to social media and the fact that the policemen marched to the
highway shouting.
One of the policemen, who didn’t
want his name mentioned, said: “Since we were deployed in January this year, we
have not been paid our allowances. It’s unfortunate that in spite of our
sacrifices and risks associated with the insurgency fight in the state, we have
not been paid our six months allowances. We have repeatedly complained and
reached out to the police high command, but all to no avail.”
Another aggrieved policeman said: “About 10,
000 mobile policemen were deployed to the state from different commands but we
have not received our allowances in the past six months. We have been serving
at the command headquarters since our deployment; but some of us deployed to
other locations outside the headquarters were being paid their allowances as
and when due. We have been facing hardships as a result of the non-payment of
the allowances. We have made several complaints but nobody listened to us.”
The Borno State Commissioner of Police,
Mr Damian Chukwu, said that he was aware of the protest and that the delay was
as a result of late signing of the 2018 budget.
He called on the protesting policemen to calm
down and assured them that their allowances would be paid.
Reacting to the incident, the Force spokesman,
Jimoh Moshood, insisted that the police personnel in Maiduguri didn’t
protest.
His words: “Some
of the Police Mobile Force personnel on Special Duty in Maiduguri went to the
Borno State Police Command Headquarters on enquiry over the delay in the
payment of their special duty allowance in the early hours of today and not on
protest as reported in some media. The IGP, Idris, promptly directed the
Commissioner of Police, Borno State to address and inform them why there is
delay in the payment of their special duty allowance, and also assure them that
since the budget has been approved; the allowances will be expeditiously
processed and paid without any further delay. They subsequently returned to
their duty posts.”
Moshood added that consequently, Idris has ordered
the Commissioner of Police, Police Mobile Force (PMF) to proceed to Maiduguri,
Borno State and other states in the North East where PMF personnel were
deployed on special duty; to lecture and inform them on the efforts being made
by the Force to ensure timely payment of special duty and other allowances to
police personnel in the North East of the country.
“The Police Mobile Force personnel that went on the
enquiry are not those attached to Operation Lafiya Dole in the fight against
insurgency in the North East but those in the category of visiting Police
Mobile Force units deployed in Maiduguri on Crime Prevention and other Police
duties in the state,” said Moshood.
The image maker urged members of the public in
Maiduguri, Borno State not to panic, but to go about their lawful duties and
other responsibilities without fear or apprehension.
He argued: “The Nigeria Police Force is a
disciplined organization and will not allow any situation to degenerate into
disturbance of public peace anywhere in the country.”
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