Imohinmi Edgal Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom state
Abasifreke Effiong
Police officers in Akwa Ibom state who have been working day and night, enforcing the COVID -19 lockdown have been paid a paltry N500 as COVID-19 lockdown duty allowance.
The Dune gathered exclusively that the police officers started receiving the N500 COVID-19 duty allowance last week.
The COVID-19 special duty in Akwa Ibom state started on April 2nd, when the governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, declared lockdown in the state following the confirmation of five index COVID-19 cases on Wednesday 1st April by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.
Some of the over 3000 police officers deployed for the COVID-19 duty are still duty as of the time of filling this report. They had worked for two months and 10 days as at Friday, June 12.
RELATED STORY : NCDC rates COVID-19 test lab in Akwa Ibom very high, 27 cases discharged
Policemen are still mounting road blocks overnight, enforcing the 8p.m to 6a.m curfew imposed on the state about three weeks ago.
Police officers confirmed to The Dune, showing bank credit alert, that they were paid N500 as COVID-19 lockdown allowance.
A credit alert sent by Union Bank to some of the officers indicated that N500 was paid as “COVID-19 lockdown allowance.”
However, sources within the police command said it is not all police officers in the command that have been paid the N500 COVID-19 lockdown allowance.
“It is not all the officers that have collected the money. Like in my office, they brought the list and randomly selected those to be paid”, an officer at the police command Ikot Akpan Abia told The Dune in confidence.
Another source, a police woman teaching in one of the police schools in the state, who craved anonymity, said she and her colleagues teaching in the police school have not been paid the N500 allowance.
The Dune could not verify how many police officers out of the about 7000 men and officers in the command have been paid the N500 COVID-19 lockdown allowance, because official sources within the command refused to give information on the payment.
Our sources alleged that Akwa Ibom state government released about N27 million to the state police command for COVID-19 duties. The state government does not usually announce or give information on its expenditure on security.
Police officers in Akwa Ibom are the worst paid personnel working at the forefront of the COVID-19 response in the state.
Aside receiving the least pay as COVID-19 duty allowance, security officers on the COVID-19 duty in the state were without relevant personal protective equipment throughout the period of the lockdown till now.
In an earlier report by The Dune, the Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom state, CSP N-nudam Fredrick, said the police did not have a budget for PPE.
The police had to rely on donations of PPE from public spirited individuals.
Meanwhile, a human right organisation, Community Policing Partners for Justice, Security and Democratic Reforms, COMPPART, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammad Adamu, demanding the removal of the Akwa Ibom state commissioner of police, Mr Imohinmi Edgal, over what it calls, “incompetency, corruption and undemocratic policing strategies.”
In a letter dated June 5, signed by its Executive Director, Barr Saviour Akpan,
COMPPART says CP Edgal has “refused to set example in terms of accountable and transparent policing of citizens.”
Barr Saviour Akpan, Executive Director, COMPPART.
The organisation says policing in Akwa Ibom state has “degenerated from worse to worst” under the watch of CP Edgal, with cases of extortion and fraud particularly under its Criminal Investigations Department, CID.
Though The Dune could not independently verify this claim, COMPPART says the SCID has become “an MTD”.
“More worrisome is, despite the (CP’s) claims, policing in Akwa Ibom State has gone to an extent where State Criminal Investigation Department bought (sic) not for the effort of the Deputy Commissioner there has become an ‘MTD’ -Money Taking Department.”
The human rights organisation alleged that the CP refused to respond to a Freedom of Information, FOI, request made to him demanding information on how much the command received for COVID-19 duty, prompting it to pay N500 as COVID-19 lockdown allowance to police officers who were on the COVID-19 duty.
The petition claims that CP Edgal collected an undisclosed sum of money as duty allowance for COVID-19 lockdown for the about 7000 police officers in the command, but converted it to personal use.
“Consequent upon a rumour that government has release funds for the welfare of officers and men of the different security forces across the state, we as a matter of citizen action demanding for an accountable policing wrote a Freedom of Information request to the Commissioner of Police demanding to know from him if there was such fund and if yes how it was expended given how shabbily dressed policemen in Akwa Ibom state were.”
“To our surprise, the Commissioner of Police Akwa Ibom state and chief law enforcement officer who is supposed to set example, refused to reply that letter up till now as you are reading this.”
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“We are seriously embarrassed by the actions and inactions of this Commissioner of Police. The greatest part of that embarrassment is his refusal to set example in terms of accountable and transparent policing of citizens which we seriously deserves in Akwa Ibom State.
“Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police request(ed) for account numbers of all the Police officers in the command and afterwards paid them N500 (Five Hundred Naira) as COVID-19 allowance which is evidence and attestation to the fact that he collected the money and converted it to himself.
“Our believe is that once the welfare of police officers especially ranks and file are not taken care of, they transfer the frustration on the innocent members of the public, thus, widening the gap of police community relationship.”
COMPPART also observed that police officers who were on duty during the COVID-19 lockdown did not wear nose masks as earlier reported by The Dune.
The police command is yet to respond to the allegations raised in the petition by COMPPART.
On the 8th of June, three days after the petition was circulated to the public, this reporter sought comment from the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, CDP N-nudam Fredrick, he said said he was not aware of the petition.
When we forwarded the petition to him at about 5:18p.m on Monday 8th June, on WhatsApp, CSP Fredrick forwarded a subtle rejoinder to the petition written by a civil society organisation known as Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC, to us at 9:16p.m on Monday 8th June.
Upon receipt of the rejoinder from RULAAC forwarded to The Dune by the PPRO, we again reached out to him demanding an official comment on the allegations raised against the CP and the SCID by COMPPART.
Our correspondent had responded to the rejoinder forwarded to us by the PPRO in response to the petition, thus:
“I have seen the spotlight on the CP as well as the questioned raised about COMPPART’s petition by RULACC.
I’m afraid the “rejoinder” from RULACC has not answered any of the questions raised in the petition.”
“The rejoinder cannot represent an official response by the CP or the command on the issues raised in the petition. Respectfully sir, I will appreciate if you can tell me: How much the state command received as duty allowance for COVID-19?”
“How much was given to each police officer in Akwa Ibom state as COVID-19 duty allowance? Have all police officers under the command signed and collected the COVID-19 duty allowance as of today, Monday 8th June? Did the command receive an FOI request from COMPPART?”
“Kindly give an official comment on the allegation that the SCID is a “money taking department”; and that the CP has been inaugurating community policing advisory committees without terms of reference.”
“Thank you. Please sir, note that an official response to these enquiries will help us serve the command better. Thank you very much for your time.”
The PPRO did not respond to the enquiry more than 24 hours later.
When The Dune phoned him on June 10, drawing his attention to our pending enquiries, he asked, “was the petition sent to me or the IGP?”, he dropped the phone call.
However, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, CDHR, Akwa Ibom state branch, a non-governmental organisation founded in 1989, has criticised COMPPART for launching a campaign for the removal of the commissioner of police.
CDHR says the campaign was “injurious” and “capable of damaging the good image of the commissioner who is more like a father in the state.”
In a statement signed by the state chairman of CDHR, Comrade Pius Philip Ntuen, and state assistant secretary, Comrade Uduak Ekarika, the human rights organisation insisted that COMPPART did not exhaust all means of engagements before calling for the removal of the CP and, had also bypassed hierarchy of the police supervising the CP.
“CDHR is in right position to advise the petitioner that the CP accommodates, tolerates and listen to all, therefore he (petitioner) should have met the Commissioner in person or through the PPRO to get facts concerning the Command instead of embarking on campaign of removal.”
“The petitioner should as a matter of fact explain to the IGP and Police Commission the reason, the AIG Zone 6 Calabar was not addressed or copied as first line action against Akwa Ibom State Command, Commissioner of Police.”
“The petitioner should be able to give an accurate answer to the following questions: If the Phone numbers of the Commissioner were not functional as stated in his petition, did the petitioner make efforts to reach the commissioner through the PPRO or any other officer?
“The State of Police infrastructures in the state are well known to everybody including IGP, some building are in a very bad condition and doors were removed by termites while some documents are kept in an open places. The Petitioner should have approached the Commissioner on what he used the money for before embarking on this attack.”
“The petitioner has not told the general public how much was given to the Police and what the money was meant for whether the commissioner has diverted the money to warrant this level of embarrassment.”
CDHR admitted that some police officers who were on duty during the COVID-19 lockdown were not properly dressed and were without PPE, but insisted that COMPPART should have reported same to the CP, rather than blame the CP for it.
Comrade Pius Ntuen, Chairman CDHR, Akwa Ibom state.
“It is true that some police officers are not well dressed while on duty, but some are well dressed, it is the duty of the petitioner to draw the attention of the Commissioner of Police to those officers other than putting the blame on the commissioner as though he dressed them to come to work.”
“There are some exceptionally
outstanding police officers on their various duty posts during this Covid-19 that deserved recommendation and awards to further motivate their performance, one of such CDHR came in contact is DSP Egekwu Victor, the DSO I of “C” Division, Aka Etinan, Uyo, under the CP Edgal’s command.”
CDHR absolved the CP of wrongdoings as alleged by COMPPART insisting that from its works with the police command under CP Edgal, it has not observed any cases of corruption in any of the police units, or incivility by any police officer which has not been addressed promptly.
