By our Correspondent
A Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria, has claimed that he collects the sum of just N30,000 monthly from Police authorities as running cost to oversee the station and do the necessary things to safeguard lives and properties in his area of jurisdiction.
Looking tense, he made the revelation in a chat with newsmen in his station.
“I collect N30,000 monthly as imprest as DPO. I’m telling you that my monthly imprest is N30,000,” he said.
The DPO, who did not want to be named for fear of official reprisals over the shocking disclosure, also claimed that there were “so many other things going wrong with our work, hindering our effective Police operations.”
According him, fueling of daily patrol vehicles, repairs and servicing of the vehicles as well as other matters, are all the responsibility of a DPO who is allegedly handed N30,000 monthly for these and more.
Asked why there is no forum for journalists and senior Police officers to meet so that the former, who are constitutionally empowered to hold leaders accountable, can raise such issues, the DPO merely shrugged.
Lamenting the immediate consequence of poor funding, the DPO explained that when complaints of Police personnel not picking distress calls or not responding quickly are made, such are “because the society did not know what’s happening.”
