Maiduguri, Nigeria – Policemen involved in counter-insurgency operations in North-East Nigeria have voiced their frustrations over the non-payment of their allowances for the past six months. These officers, selected from various states, are working alongside the Nigerian Army in the region to combat Boko Haram insurgents and other criminal activities.
The affected personnel expressed their dire situation, explaining that the lack of allowances has left them in a challenging predicament. One of the officers lamented, “We are mobile policemen working with the Nigerian Army under the special forces (SF) joint task force in Maiduguri. We are working day and night tirelessly in the rain and the sun.”
Another officer highlighted the severity of their situation, stating, “Some of us were deployed to various locations here in Maiduguri after two weeks of training in the Nigerian Army special forces training ground, Buni Yadi, Yobe State, but we have not received our allowances for a period of six months now. We have been sending complaints to the Theatre Command of Operation Hadin Kai (OHK) Maimalari Army Barrack through our unit commanders but all efforts made to get paid our six months’ operational allowances have failed.”
The policemen have pleaded with the authorities to address their plight urgently. “We are all men with families; we left them at home for a good six months to come here to Borno State for peacekeeping but look at how we are suffering without our allowances for God’s sake. Even now as I’m talking to you, I’m in the bush. We need help, please,” one officer told SaharaReporters.
Efforts to reach the spokesman for the Nigeria Police Force, Muyiwa Adejobi, for comments on the issue were unsuccessful.
Nigeria has been grappling with insurgency in the North-East region for over a decade. The ongoing conflict with Islamic terrorists has resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions, primarily in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.
