Police officers deployed for last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections are grumbling over delay in payment of their special duty allowances, Daily Trust on Sunday reports.
It would be recalled that both senior and junior officers as well as rank and file of the force from various formations, units and departments were deployed for the special assignments in order to have peaceful exercise.
Although there were reported cases of some irregularities during the exercise, the conduct of the officers, who were under strict supervision of the Police Service Commission, were adjudged to be fair contrary to happenings in the past.
Speaking to our correspondent anonymously because of retribution, a Superintendent of Police explained that since last week when the authority said their respective bank accounts would be credited, he was yet to receive anything as of Friday, March 3.
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Another Mobile Police officer told Daily Trust on Sunday that things are becoming unbearable for majority of them who participated during the Saturday poll, adding that they are tired of “borrowing from friends and foes.”
Asked how the officers coped during the poll since the alerts did not drop, the cop said, “Honestly, it wasn’t easy. Though, some of us had little money in our accounts before the day, it was not actually enough for some of us, so we resorted to borrowing.”
He added, “We’re human beings like other Nigerians. We also ‘bought’ cash the way other Nigerians are buying because it was not everyone of us that could make transfers when some things are bought.”
But reacting, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, explained that the force has paid all its personnel the election allowances as the mandate for the payment of the allowances due to all police officers has been issued.
The police chief, who spoke through the force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Saturday, noted that all lodgements have been made to respective Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) for onward payment to police officers banking with them.
He, however, directed the officers that are yet to receive payment of the election allowances to visit their respective banks and take up such matters with them to ensure that the process of resolving the issues responsible for the delays is fast-tracked.
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