Months after being transferred across Nigeria, police personnel are still awaiting their inconvenience allowance and other entitlements, with many also lacking accommodation, SaharaReporters has learnt.
Female officers are particularly hard hit, struggling to balance work and family responsibilities amid economic hardship.
Sources reveal that promised government palliatives have been withheld, exacerbating the situation.
They warned that the massive police force reorganisation, involving widespread transfers, may have devastating consequences for the affected officers’ families if their economic hardships are not urgently addressed.
“They are transferring them without any provisions like accommodations, inconvenience allowance, even the palliative promised by the Federal Government has not been paid to these personnel,” one of the sources said.
“If they must transfer these guys, which is a routine aspect of their job, they should make provisions for them as well as their children and wives.”
Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olayiwola Afolabi, had urged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to reconsider the transfer of married female police officers nationwide.
In a letter dated January 8, 2024, Afolabi made the appeal, citing concerns for the welfare and well-being of these officers and their families.
In the letter titled, ‘An Appeal For Your Kind Consideration To Review With Human Kindness On Behalf Of Female Married Police Officers Who Were Recently Affected By The Recent Police Transfers All Over The Country,” the lawyer who identified himself as a friend of the police officers explained that the transfers would affect their children, especially for those who are couples.
“It will be recall that the police authority under your leadership recently approved mass transfers of officers all over the Country. While we have no problem with the mass transfers which is not normal in the police force, our concern is on behalf of those married police officers who are even married to police officers as well,” Afolabi stated in the January 2024 letter.
“We quite believe that you will find time to reconsider those female officers who are equally married to male police officers that their children will not suffer, because in a situation where the two officers are transferred out of their station, their children will suffer as we have seen in Edo State and Rivers State.
“Apart from the above, police authority should consider to take up the issue of housing for police officers with the Federal Ministry of Housing the issue of accommodation for police officers because your will find out that accommodation is not provided for those officers who are being transferred to new stations.
“In this regard, we plead passionately that you kindly reconsider this issue with a view of taking statistics of those female officers involved.”
Meanwhile, attempts by SaharaReporters to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, for comment were unsuccessful.
Despite multiple calls, he did not answer, and as of the time of filing this report, he had not responded to a text message sent to him.
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