More than 15,000 police
officers have threatened to either go on strike or disrupt the March 28 and
April 11 general elections.
They were made up of
officers who were promoted from the rank of sergeant to the rank of inspector
and those promoted from the rank of inspector to the rank of assistant
superintendent of police in December 2013.
The policemen,
according to seven of them who met with one of Punch's correspondents in Abuja on
Tuesday, said that they were promoted since December 2013, but that the police
authorities had refused to pay them their new salaries.
They said that after
waiting for the police authorities for over a year, they were surprised that
they were paid their new salaries with the January 2015 salaries, wondering why
the money meant for the 13 month was not included.
One of them said, “We
were promoted in December 2013 and the letters which were given to us indicated
that we were to enjoy the benefits accruing to our new rank from the date of
our promotion.
Another officer, who is
an ASP, said, “We know that there is corruption in the Force, but how can
someone sit on our 13th month salaries and would expect us to keep quiet?
“Elections are coming.
They said we should be neutral. How can we be neutral when we are being
shortchanged by our bosses and the country?
“We want to be paid or
else there would be crisis during the elections. This is the time for us to
shout so that Nigerians would know what we are passing through.”
When contacted by Punch’s
correspondent, the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, said
though he had not been briefed about the issue, he nevertheless promised that
their grievances would be looked into and addressed.
“I have not heard of
the report, but we will look into their grievances and address them,” he said.
- Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment