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According to a report by SaharaReporters, thousands of constables who were recently recruited into the Nigeria Police Force have cried out over unpaid salaries.
The officers have reportedly not been paid salaries for the past four months.
The recruits passed out of the police training institutions on December 29, 2020, and have not been paid since then despite resuming at their duty posts across the country.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, one of the affected officers said that the situation had demoralised many of them as they were finding it difficult to meet their responsibilities to their families.
He added that most of the constables were “surviving on bribes and extortion” due to the delay in the payment of salaries.
According to him, they have been reporting at their respective duty posts without pay since January 2023.
The police constable appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba to come to their aid and save them from being dependent on others for daily bread.
“Please something is happening concerning Nigeria Police Force new recruit constables that passed out on December 29, 2022. We have spent four months now and the police authorities, police service commission and federal government have refused to pay us.
“And we are working 12 hours a day, for the whole week. No time for any other things, please we are suffering and dying of hunger already. They are indirectly teaching us corrupt practices,” one of them said.
“We now beg for food and transport fee to go to work and we cannot protest because it’s against the police regulations.
“And the worst part of this is that we are being posted to various special duties like we are already being paid. And we must go because it’s an order. We must look for means either good or bad,” another policeman said.
In January, the Police Service Commission asked the Accountant-General of the Federation to halt the capture of the 10,000 constables on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System.
According to the commission, the police officers had not been issued their letters of appointment and should not be enrolled on the payment portal.
According to the Public Service Rules, public officers not captured on the IPPIS cannot be paid salaries and other emoluments.
The development followed the alleged refusal of the Inspector-General of Police to submit their names to the PSC for vetting on
