The House of Representatives has called on the Federal
Government to auction all police barracks across the country.
The lawmakers also asked the Ministry of Interior and the
Ministry of Police Affairs to liaise with the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE)
to immediately assess the value of all federal owned barracks across the
country and announce a public offering for same.
The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of a
motion of urgent public importance on the need to address the deplorable living
conditions of officers of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) raised by Hon. Murphy
Omoruyi.
Moving the motion, he recalled that in September 2020, the
National Assembly passed the Police Reform Bill 2020, which was signed into law
by the former Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari on September 16, 2020.
He said one of its core issues was to address the living
conditions of the nation’s gallant police officers.
The lawmaker noted that the problem of adequate and
dignified accommodation for police officers persists and has so far outlived
all previous measures.Omoruyi stressed that between 2019 – 2022 over N5 billion
was spent by the federal government on barracks renovations, adding that
despite all efforts, barracks continue to fail to meet basic needs in their
current state of disrepair and lack of maintenance.
The lawmaker pointed out that there had been robust national
debates and calls for more community oriented policing strategies and having
officers living amongst the general population, rather than in their secluded
barracks, would significantly satisfy the calls and enhance public safety.
Omoruyi emphasised that the barracks method of housing for
police and local law enforcement officers was a relic colonial practice that
had since been abandoned by the same colonialists in their home countries.
He expressed worry that police officers and their families
live in squalor, characterised by large cracks on the wall, bat-infested
houses, leaking roofs and dilapidated structures for barracks across the
country.
Omoruyi lamented that police officers had been tagged as
corrupt, saying this cannot be divorced from lack of welfare services for them.
He said the public has lost confidence and respect in the
country’s officers due to their poor conditions of service.
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