President Muhammadu Buhari, is yet fulfil the promise he made to the Nigeria Police Force, during the height of the EndSARS global protest, , as at the time of filing in this report.
Page 36 recalls that President Buhari had on October 22, 2020, ordered for the upward review of Officers’ welfare of the NPF, as part of measures to bring reform to the Law Enforcement Agency.
The President, had in his address to the nation, during the height of the EndSARS protests, directed the National Salaries, Income, and Wages Commission to effect the review.
This directive was among the protesters’ five core demands to “increase police salary, so that they are adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of citizens”.
Page 36 reliably gathered that after 11 days of President Buhari’s promise, there is nothing concrete that shows that the government will do what the people demand.
This is not the first time President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to review Police salary. The President had in 2018, approved a new salary package for Police Personnel; details of this approval, or the percentages of the increment, are yet to be made public, about two years after it was made.
With the foregoing, Page 36 learnt that the Consolidated Police Salary Structure, CONPOSS, released in March 2011, appears to be the only detailed document on salaries of the Police in the public domain.
Despite the 2018 Presidential announcement, the 2011 salary structure is still what is being used by the Police Management up to date.
According to the document, a Police Recruit earns a consolidated annual salary of N108,233.00, and a monthly consolidated salary of N9,019.42 (apart from allowances); when N676.46 is deducted as a pension, the recruit goes home with N8,342.96. He is the lowest paid.
A Sergeant Major is the twelfth rank and the most senior of the rank and file Junior Officers. It is the highest rank of a non-commissioned officer. A Sergeant Major assists the administrative officer of a particular regiment.
A Sergeant Major On Grade 06 (step 10) takes N62,204.88 home monthly while a Sergeant Major on Grade 06 (step 1) receives N55.144.81 per month.
A cadet Inspector is the lowest rank held by a police officer after undergoing training of service as a commissioned officer. It is commonly known as Inspector of Police, IP.
A Cadet Inspector On Grade 07 (step10) receives about N87,135.10 per month while a Cadet Inspector On Grade Level 07 (step1) is paid N73,231.51 monthly.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP, is the highest-ranking officer in the force. He is appointed by the President and can also be dismissed by him.
The IGP’s monthly salary is N711,450 while his yearly pay is N8,537,980.
The Nigeria police is the least paid among corresponding security agencies in Nigeria, a factor expert says fuels corruption, extortion, and abuse of power.
The salary of the Nigerian Inspector-General of Police, IGP, is meagre, compared with those of the heads of the Department of Security Services, DSS, National Intelligence Agency, NIA, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Tens of thousands of officers of the Nigerian police receive some of the poorest pay even in the West African sub-region, and the worst hits are the rank and files-the force’s foot soldiers, who spend decades in the line of duty but are hardly promoted, accommodated, or paid well.
Across Nigeria, wretched officers live in squalid neighbourhoods within and outside the barracks, and go to work from broken-down vehicles, uncompleted buildings and garages.
Meanwhile, the endless extortion, corruption, and the brutality of the men of the Nigerian Police Force has been linked to poor salary and welfare.
