The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has described as “fake” the reports that its officers have concluded plans to embark on strike with effect from March 26, 2022.
The acting Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said this in a statement on Monday.
Adejobi denied that the police officers planned to embark on strike, describing the reports as “mischievous attempt by unscrupulous individuals to bring the Force to disrepute, misinform the general public and heat up the polity.”
The police spokesperson noted that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, had been accelerating efforts to ensure the full implementation of the increment of salaries and allowances proposed by the President Muhammadu Buhari and approved by the Federal Executive Council.
He added that the Federal Government was committed to the implementation of a new salary package for the police officers.
He said that “since that approval, the Salaries and Wages Commission has issued an implementation circular, the Honourable Minister of Police Affairs and the IGP have been working with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to ensure the stoppage of tax deductions as directed by the President and approved by the Federal Executive Council.”
Adejobi added: “It is pertinent to restate that the Nigeria Police Force is a regimented and disciplined organization with laid down rules and guidelines for addressing grievances and in no circumstance is a strike action one of such means.
“The men and women of the Nigeria Police Force are fully aware that a strike action or other deliberate disruption of law enforcement services by any security organization is mutinous and the personnel of the Force would not degenerate at any point to that level of disloyalty and indiscipline, as policing services are paramount and essential in the maintenance of orderliness and peace in the nation.
“It is pertinent to emphasize that the IGP is accelerating efforts to ensure the full implementation of the increment of salaries and allowances proposed by the President and approved by the Federal Executive Council.
“It is important to accentuate that it was the President’s initiative without any demand from the Police to direct the process of increasing salaries and allowances. The Federal Government is therefore fully committed to the implementation of the new salary package.
“Similarly, the Inspector-General of Police reiterates that police officers under his leadership are well motivated with the ongoing reforms, especially the provision of kits, accoutrements, body armor, the cooperative society’s housing scheme, the renovation of training schools, upgrade of police training curriculum, procurement and deployment of technology to boost ICT-driven policing.
“The IGP equally assures that the police are committed to discharging their duties to the nation as expected and renew their commitment to ensuring public safety, and the protection of lives and property of all and sundry.”
The clarifications by the Police spokesperson came on the heels of a report by New Telegraph that the Police in Nigeria had served notice of their intention to embark on an unprecedented two-week nationwide warning strike in the country to protest against their poor working conditions.
According to New Telegraph, the two-week strike would commence on Saturday, March 26.
The police men and women, according to the report, were demanding changes in their poor salaries, lack of genuine welfare benefits and outdated weapons.
They were also, as reported, condemning government’s insensitivity to the continuous killing of their colleagues by armed robbers and terrorists, without adequate compensation for their families.
In a letter to Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba reportedly sighted by the New Telegraph, the representatives of the aggrieved police officers were demanding improved conditions of service, particularly salary increase and provision of modern weapons as they tackle the security challenges facing the country.
The letter had read: “The Nigeria government lied about the increment of police salary on March 10, 2022. It has been observed with utmost dissatisfaction how the Federal Government and the Minister of Police Affairs lied to the general public about the increment of our salaries. It has always been discussed on every occasion that the increment would be done since the incident of the #EndSARS protest that led to the loss of many lives of the men of the force.
“More so, it has been observed by the men of the force that there’s nothing good the Federal Government would do for the police, because they had already made an announcement that they’ve increased our salary which is not true.
“With the lackadaisical attitude of the government and the Ministry of Police Affairs, it shows that there was nothing like a salary increment.”
The aggrieved police officers had, however, insisted they “deserve to be treated with respect by the government as they protect almost every political personality.”
They lamented that they were treated like slaves despite their contribution to national development.
“We don’t have good salaries and our gratuities are very poor compared to what’s obtainable in other parts of the world,” they said.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CSP Muyiwa Adejobi when asked to respond to the possibility of the force going on strike, according to the report, had replied that they would react to the story later. He later did.
Worried by the strike threat, the police hierarchy, the report claimed, had accelerated the letter to the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi for his urgent attention.
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