How Police Children, Wives Live In Lagos
Kunle Awosiyan
Through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, one can say that policing in Lagos is far better than that of many other states in the country.
The state government complements Federal Government in the provision of equipment and ammunition to fortify the police security structure.
Apart from this, there are special police units like the Rapid Response Squad, the governor monitoring team and the state taskforce that benefit immensely from Lagos security trust fund, including payment of compensation to families of cops who were killed while on official duty.
But then there is still a lot to do about the welfare of an average cop in the metropolis. It is not the primary assignment of the state government to build barracks or shelter for officers of the Nigeria Police Force.
Echonews was at Ikeja and Falomo police barracks during the week where policemen and their families were living in decrepit buildings.
The buildings are out of form and dirty. In some of the buildings, the soak awayhad collapsed. The roofs and ceilings of some buildings in the barracks had fallen, yet the police officers and families lay their heads under it.
One policewoman deployed in the Department of State Security, CBD road, Shangisha (names withheld) who lives inside FalomoBarracks laments how bad her apartment is.
The cop who lives with her husband and three children in two-room apartment told Echonews that the place was inhabitable during the rainy season because of the leaking roof.
“We are allowed to rent an apartment outside the barracks but it is difficult to pay rent going by the high cost of accommodation in Lagos,’ she said.
She stated that she just got an accommodation at Magboro, an Ogun State suburb because government asked her to leave the barracks.
According to her, the government is preparing to rehabilitate some of the buildings in the barracks. Asked if she was given some money by the government to get apartment, she said no, adding that it only promised to do so and had not yet paid her a dime.
Another police officer told Echonews that she left Ikeja barracks because of the bad condition of the buildings and had since relocated to the Army barracks at Maryland.
“My parents live inside the Army Barracks. My father is a soldier and the place is far better than the police barracks. Life in the police barracks cannot be compared to that of Army barracks. The difference is clear,” she said.
The children of policemen are not well exposed to good life, going by the condition of many police barracks in Lagos as observed by Echonews.
There is no doubt that this will reflect in their personal lives and their perception about the profession of police, a police officer who refused to mention his name said.
“We stay in the sun and rain to provide security but we return home to sleep under the leaking roofs,” he lamented.
Speaking, one of the children of the policewoman said, “We live like rats. The rooms are small and not meant for a family. It’s like the government did not consider the fact that a policeman will have wife and children.”
However, Echonews gathered that the Federal Government had marked some of the police barracks in Lagos for demolition because they failed integrity test.
The Nigeria Police Force said it had marked no fewer than 25 barracks across the metropolis for demolition.
In a statement by the Force Public Relations officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Ojelabi, the Inspector General of Police had directed all police officers and their families in the marked buildings to relocate.
He said that they had been given one month notice to leave and that the force would cater for them pending the rehabilitation of those barracks.
The affected Barracks include; Ijeh Police Barracks, Obalende, Highway Police Barracks, Ikeja; K9 Police Barracks, KeffiStreet, South-West, Ikoyi; Falomo Police Barracks (A and B), Ikoyi; Bar Beach Police Barracks, Victoria, MOPOL 20 Barracks, Ikeja; Women Police Barracks, Obalende; MOPOL 2 Police Barracks, Keffi Street, South-West, Ikoyi; Mounted Troop, Ribadu Road, Ikoyi and Queen Barracks, Apapa.
Others are; FPRO Annex Office and Barracks, Ijora Olopa; Iponrin Police Barracks, Surulere; Adekunle Police Barracks, Yaba; Federal Highway Patrol Office, Yaba; Alausa Police Barracks, Ikeja; Mounted Troop, Ikeja; Okesuna Police Barracks, Obalende; McCarthy Barracks, Obalende; Force Headquarters Annex, Obalende; Obalende Police Barracks, Obalende; Bourdillon Police Barracks, Ikoyi; New Staff Quarters, Ikeja; Elere Police Barracks, Agege; Onikan Officers Mess, Ikoyi and Police Special Fraud Unit, (PSFU), MilvertonStreet, Ikoyi.
Adejobi said: “This directive will not be carried out all at once, but will be implemented gradually in phased stages to ensure that all officially recognized and lawful residents of the affected Barracks are properly catered for.”
