CISLAC calls for proper funding for Nigeria Police Force
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre(CISLAC), has tasked the Federal Government to ensure proper funding for the police, saying that underfunding is hampering their response to Early Warning Signals.
CISLAC’s Executive Director,Auwal Rafsanjani,stated this while presenting the centre’s Policy Brief at a press conference in Kano on Wednesday.
“While Nigeria’s per capital income hovers at 2,085 dollars, the Nigeria Police Force has remained underfunded in both operations and salary,”he said.
Represented by Jimoh Abubakar,the centre’s Programme Manager,Rafsanjani said thousands of officers in the police were known to receive some of the poorest pay even in the West African sub-region.
The worst hit he said, were the rank and files in the police who spent decades in the line of duty but were hardly promoted,accommodated or paid well.
“As at 2020,a recruit took home N9,019 in basic salary.After conversations about police pay during the civilian protests of 2020,the Federal Executive Council approved a 20 per cent raise, with implementation slated to commence in 2022.
“But it was until August before this took effect,a delay that was attributed to insufficient funds on the police Costline,at which time the NPF was already owing supplementary salary arrears stacking up to six months,” he said.
Other unexplained irregularities reported in the police payment system,the executive director said,were that where Early Warning Signals are reported to the police,the citizens are in most cases expected to pay for logistics and mobilization prior to response.
“These systemic challenges have not only discouraged reporting at community levels but also impacted negatively on response efficiency to Early Warning signals,”he said.
He added that when early warning and response systems work effectively,they have the potential to influence policy making, conflict prevention,peace-making and support peace building and development.
