Tobias Sylvester
No fewer than 480 Police Constables held a protest on Wednesday over the non-payment of their salaries for 18 months in Osogbo, Osun State capital.
Police Protest In Osun
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the constables marched through strategic locations in the Osun capital, carrying placards with various inscriptions.
Some of the inscriptions read: “Pay our salaries now’’, “Okada riders are sleeping with our wives’’, “Pay us our stipends and allowances’’, among others.
Speaking with newsmen, a police constable identified as Tijani Adewale said that they had not been paid their salaries for 18 months, since the completion of their training.
Adewale said despite the non-payment of their salaries, they have remained committed to protecting the lives and property of citizens.
He said three constables had lost their lives while carrying out their duty, adding that the officers had made efforts to ensure that their salaries were paid, but nothing happened.
The commissioner of police in the state, Adewale Olokode, who reacted to the development, asked the officers to stop the protest and forward their demands to the appropriate quarters.
“You are embarrassing the force with your protest. You should have channelled your grievances to the appropriate quarters,” Olokode said.
“It’s just like you are disturbing public peace with your protest. As far as you are wearing this uniform, we expect you to maintain high discipline.”
Meanwhile, a police officer who pleaded anonymity said officers in the state had also not been paid their allowances for covering the July 16 Osun governorship election.
“We have made efforts to find out the reason for the non-payment and we have not gotten any concrete feedback from the force headquarters,” NAN quoted the officer as saying.
“It is against the code of service to protest in demand for the allowance, but we are appealing to the inspector-general of police to look into our case.”
KanyiDaily recalls that the Police Service Commission (PSC) had recently declared an indefinite strike over the breach of agreements necessary for working harmony.
