Ex-Officers Ask FG To Withdraw Police From Private Homes

Retired senior police officers are lamenting that the institution they once served “with all their might” has “continued to degenerate with “our policemen now more in private homes than on the streets”. They also bemoaned the allegations that police officers are being used by land grabbers against those opposed to their illegal activities. A statement by the Police Service Commission (PSC) yesterday quoted the ex-officers as making the claim during a visit to retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Taiwo Lakanu, who was appointed as a Commissioner in the commission recently.

According to the statement, the delegation led by former DIG Maigari Dikko expressed regrets that exCommissioners of Police receive N73,000 as monthly pensions. They said a retired CP’s equivalent in the Nigerian Army gets N300,000. However, the claims could not be verified by New Telegraph as at the time of filing this report.



The pensioners appealed to the PSC to rescue them “from abandonment and poor retirement benefits”. It quoted the delegation as expressing the fear that “this situation, if not quickly reversed, will constitute a serious security threat”. The group asked the government to “quickly withdraw the several police officers in private homes and free them to help secure the nation and effectively occupy the public space.

“The PSC should intervene quickly; there are many policemen in private homes and land grabbers have continued to use them to molest and intimidate opponents.” The PSC Chairman Hashimu Argungu pledged the commission’s commitment to restoring the glory of the Nigeria Police Force both serving and retired. He said some of the retired officers would be engaged by the PSC to serve in its Quality Assurance Unit Argungu also assured them that they would also be encouraged to enjoy the benefits of having their children recruited into the police either through the Police Academy in Wudil, Kano State, or through direct recruitment.

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