Nigeria Police Force junior personnel have again stated their resolve to commence a nationwide strike on May 1st, 2022, SaharaReporters has gathered.
The aggrieved policemen had in March 2022 said they would embark on a warning strike to protest against poor working conditions, poor salaries, lack of genuine welfare benefits and outdated weapons.
A protest tagged “We are tired of negligence” was scheduled to be held at Eagles Square in Abuja on March 26 to reiterate their demands to the Nigerian government.
The officers condemned the continuous killing of their colleagues by armed robbers and terrorists, without adequate compensation for their families.
They accused the Nigerian government of lying about the increment of police salary and other promised benefits and demanded improved conditions of service, particularly salary increment and provision of modern weapons as they tackle the security challenges facing the country.
Shaken by the reports, Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, dispatched members of the police management team to different commands and zonal formations to pacify the personnel while promising to accelerate the payment of the 20 per cent salary increment, as approved by the Nigerian government last December.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, one of the leaders of the aggrieved officers accused the IGP of deceiving them.
“We have started planning another protest and strike action. It will definitely be nothing ever seen in this country. Workers’ Day, May 1 is the new date,” he told SaharaReporters.
“Strike and protest will be done together. We relaxed the planned strike action initially because we were reliably informed that the salary would be paid last month. But as we speak, we still received the old salary.
“We were fooled; this time around, nothing shall stop the coming doom. We advise the Nigeria Police Force’s hierarchy to keep the doors of prison yards wide open. We shall all march ourselves to all the prisons across the country. We want to save them the stress of mass arrests.”
