By Owolola Adebola
A disturbing noise could be heard within police formations across the country, CompassNG can reveal.
The rumpus is not unconnected with the salary arrears of some police officers who got promoted over two years ago and are yet to be paid salaries that commensurate with their new ranks.
Recall that the Police Management Team, PMT, rewarded some officers through promotions to the next rank in November 2020. These crop of officers were elated when their names were published by the authority.
A source who pleaded anonymity said, “Two years after the the said promotions, there had been little to show for it.”
Information at our disposal has it the those who were promoted from the rank of Sergeant to Inspector of Police and got confirmed are still receiving the salary that does not commensurate with their ranks after such confirmation.
A senior police officer, SPO, grumbly complained to our correspondent during na unofficial chat last weekend in Garki, Abuja, “For now, the arrears are in a huge figure and the authority seems to be looking the other direction. Within us now, the general slang is that appointment is better than rank.”
CompassNG in-depth investigation revealed that majority of the affected police officers actually got confirmation of their promotions in November, 2022.
A former Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, who is now an Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, enthused “Our fear is that the difference in the salary adjustment may never be given to us again as a result of administrative bottlenecks.”
A week-long investigation by our correspondent had earlier revealed that the problem is nationwide, as calls to Akwa Ibom, Imo, Cross River, Kano, Ondo, Ekiti states, among others bear the same semblance.
A call to the office of the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, for a comment could not be immediately returned.
