The Presidency on Monday summoned the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris over the reported protest embarked by police personnel in Maiduguri, the Borno capital, on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the IGP was seen heading towards the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari, at the presidential villa, Abuja.
A source at the Presidential villa, who preferred to remain anonymous told NAN that the IGP was in the villa to brief the presidency on the police protest.
Recall that NAN reported that policemen protested in command headquarters located on Maiduguri-Kano expressway, with many of them disrupting traffic .
The agency spoke with one of protesting policemen who disclosed that they were angry over non-payment of their allowances in the last six months.
“About 10, 000 mobile policemen were deployed to the state from different commands but we have not received our allowances in the past six months.
“We have been serving at the command headquarters since our deployment; but some of us deployed to other locations outside the headquarters were being paid their allowances as and when due.
“We have been facing hardships as a result of the non-payment of the allowances. We have made several complaints but nobody listened to us,” the aggrieved policeman said.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Damian Chukwu, blamed the non payment on the delay in the passage of the 2018 budget.
He called on the protesting policemen to calm down and assured them that their allowances would be paid.
However, the Police in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, dismissed the media report, claiming that the policemen only made inquiries on their allowances and salaries before returning to their duty posts.
According to the statement, the delay in payment is due to late passage of the appropriation act, adding that with its assent by President Buhari, the issue will soon be addressed. (NAN)
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