Aggrieved policemen fix new date for nationwide strike

Junior officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have chosen 1 May 2022, to begin a nationwide protest and strike action against the poor conditions of service.

One of the leaders of the aggrieved officers in an interview with SaharaReporters accused IGP Alkali Usman Baba 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.

“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,” he told SaharaReporters.

The aggrieved policemen had said they would embark on a warning strike in March to protest against poor working conditions, poor salaries, lack of genuine welfare benefits and outdated weapons.

The 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.

Reacting to the reports, the 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.

Later Baba ordered the dismissal of nine policemen planning to spearhead the strike.

The sack order was conveyed in a police signal issued by the Commissioner of Police Provost, Force Headquarters, Abuja.

The signal said the men were dismissed from service following their orderly room trial for planning and coordinating a strike within the ranks and file of the Police Force