Ondo Election: Police officers lament non-payment of allowances

Weeks after they participated in the gubernatorial election in Ondo State, some policemen who were deployed for the election are yet to be paid their allowances and some of them are already apprehensive about it.

The gubernatorial election held on Saturday, October 10, with the incumbent governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, securing a second term in office.

Some of those who participated in the election said that over 300 police officers who participated in the election are yet to be paid.

PREMIUM TIMES is yet to independently verify the number of police officers yet to be paid.

Some of those who spoke to this reporter, however, said they were promised to be paid before the deployment but were surprised that up till now they have not been paid.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that police officers from Oyo State and other states in the South-west region were deployed for the election.

The officers said the police headquarters in Abuja sent a signal that they would be paid before deployment but this was not done.

Those who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday and Friday in Ibadan said some of them were deployed to Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

They said that all of them who are from Oyo State Command are yet to receive their allowances.

They said they used their personal money throughout the election to take care of their expenses.

Speaking on the condition of anonimity for fear of victimisation, they called on IGP Mohammed Adamu to intervene.

One of them said, “We were deployed to Ondo State, Ese-Odo local government area, 300 of us from Oyo State. But, we are yet to see our alert.”

Another said, “No single officer deployed to Ese-Odo local government area of Ondo State has been paid and we were about 300 deployed to that local government.

“We are calling on the police authority to pay our allowances and let it not be promise and fail as usual.”

Another one said, “those of us who are yet to be paid are over 300.”

The police spokesman in the state, Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES.

He said that the officers would receive their money from the police headquarters, asking them to be patient.

“I have told someone who called me today. The election is from the headquarters,” he added. “When they are ready, they have gotten their details, they will pay them. That is just it. They will pay them at the appropriate time. ”

All efforts to get the reaction of the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, were unsuccessful.

Calls put through his mobile phone were not answered. He did not respond to a text message seeking explanation.

In the aftermath of the violence that trailed the EndSARS protests against police brutality across Nigeria, police welfare has become one of the most pressing issues attracting the attention of many Nigerians.