TheCable

One of the police officers on special duty in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, claim their superiors hijacked their allowances.

The aggrieved officers, on Monday, hit the streets to protest non-payment of their allowances since January, when they were deployed to fight insurgency in the state.

They barricaded Bulumkutu road in the town, shot into the air, forcing motorist and residents to flee for safety.

The officers also ordered students on their way to school to return home.

One of them told TheCable after short-changing them, their superiors left them to work under hardship.

He said Kashim Shettima, the state governor, was at some point paying the allowances of some officers stationed at the University of Maiduguri, but others were left to survive on just their salaries.

“Many officers deployed to liberated communities were left to their faith. You deployed us to fight Boko Haram and you are not paying us our allowances,” the officer said.

“They sent us to liberated communities with no shelter. Most police stations and police quarters were completely burnt down and no one is doing anything to rehabilitate it and they are asking us to go to those places.

“At some point Governor Kashim Shettima was providing allowances for some of us who are providing protection at the surrounding of the University of Maiduguri, other personnel like civil defence corps were getting their allowances but our own was hijacked by our superiors.”

Damian Chukwu, the state commissioner of police, said the command was doing everything to calm the situation.

In June, Chukwu said poor motivation and lack of equipment had hindered the command’s ability to provide effective security and protection in the region.

He listed some of the challenges of the officers as lack of proper welfare, under-funding, man power and weaponry, lack of operational vehicles and and basic social amenities

He, however, said despite these challenges, the police were living up to their mandate of securing the lives and properties.

“My officers have had to sometimes travel from Bama to Maiduguri in order to buy foods stuff and other commodities because there is no market. Last month, I lost a police who fell off a truck while travelling to Bama to Maiduguri,” he said.

“Our main problem is underfunding. And that is affecting us negatively.

“We have written to them and they already know our challenges. The current security challenges in the country would have been contained if the Nigerian Police Force is properly equipped and given all their demands.”

Jimoh Moshood, spokesman of the Nigeria police force, earlier told TheCable that the delay in the passage of the 2018 budget was behind the non-payment of allowances of the officers.