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NIGERIA-UNREST-BOKOHARAM
Police protest in NE Nigeria over salary arrears
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, July 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Some 2,000 police officers
stationed in Boko Haram-hit northeast Nigeria on Monday demanded months of
back pay in a angry protest marked by teargas and gunshots fired into the
air.
Members of the mobile police (MOPOL) units, who perform escort duties as
well as man checkpoints and patrol with the military, demanded up to six
months’ arrears and better accommodation.
They blocked the main road outside the police headquarters in the Borno
state capital, Maiduguri, chanting slogans including “Pay us our allowances
or there will be no peace.”
An AFP reporter at the scene said the protesters let off teargas and fired
volleys of gunshots into the air.
Other officers were sent out to prevent reporters covering the protest but
the demonstrators stepped in to stop them, leading to scuffles, he added.
One protester told AFP the last time he was paid he received only 23,000
naira ($64, 55 euros) — just 5,000 naira more than the national minimum
wage.
A “large part” had been deducted with no explanation given, he added.
Officers were unable to give money to their families for food and school
fees, he said.
“How do they expect us to maintain security when we are hungry and
frustrated, when we haven’t seen our families for months and can’t discharge
our basic responsibilities as husbands and fathers?” he asked.
“Our patience has been exhausted. All we are saying is they should give us
our money.”
Another said they had not been paid for six months while provision of food
had been stopped and officers have been forced to sleep in the open as there
was no accommodation.
There was no immediate comment from the police authorities.
Non-payment of salaries is not unusual in Nigeria, particularly in recent
years, as the country slid towards recession after the collapse of global oil
prices from mid-2014.
In 2015, public sector workers in 30 out of Nigeria’s 36 states were owed
wages.
In recent months, university staff, oil and gas workers and hospital
doctors have gone on strike over salary arrears dating back as far as 2009.
Under former president Goodluck Jonathan, soldiers complained of non-
payment of salaries, as well as lack of adequate weapons and even ammunition.
In one case, troops refused an order to deploy for an offensive against
the jihadists.
President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on a pledge to defeat the
Islamists and tackle endemic corruption.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1555 hrs