By Shola Abayomi
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Isah Hamma Misau has said that a policeman told him that he felt like joining Boko Haram due to the pervasive injustice in the Nigerian police force.
Senator Misau, who was contributing to the debate about insecurity in the country yesterday when the Senate hosted the Ag. Inspector General of police, Mohammed Adamu; said the injustice and lack of fair reward in the police is affecting the moral of the officers.
“You can imagine the spokesperson of the Nigerian police. Three months ago, he was CSP. Under some days, they gave him special promotion as Assistant Commissioner of Police. After a month, they gave him special promotion to Deputy Commissioner of Police. Today, if he becomes Commissioner, what can he do? Whereby some people are there in Maiduguri fighting Boko Haram, fighting so many things. Even their allowances are not paid”, the Senator said.
Senator Misau argued that the Nigerian police force has capable people who can solve the problems of insecurity confronting the country. “But because of hypocrisy, because they don’t have godfathers; they are being relegated to nothing.”
Still on the matter of favoritism in the police force, the Senator submitted that the Nigerian police is today very demoralized as a result of indiscipline and special promotions awarded to officers who have enough money to buy their promotions, or those who are close to politicians and top hierarchy in the force.
Alluding to the alleged special promotion granted the police spokesman, Senator Misau claimed the promotion infuriated an officer that he considered joining Boko Haram.
“There was an officer that called me. He said because of that special promotion, he felt like joining Boko Haram. He said that was what he felt”, the Senator told his colleagues.
It would be recalled that sometime in September 2017, Senator Misau made similar allegations when he alleged that the police was in the practice of collecting as much as N10 billion monthly from corporate bodies and the rich for the special protection provided them by its personnel. At the time, the Senator also alleged that there was a rampant promotion racketeering going on in which junior officers were buying special promotion for a sum of N2.5 million.
” Some have attained ranks such as commissioner of police without operational experience; and this has led to a display of lack of capacity when the security of such states comes under threat”, Misau said at the time.
The antecedents of the Senator may have been responsible for his deep interest in all matters concerning the police. Aside the fact that Senator Misau himself left service in 2014, having served for ten years in the Nigerian police force; his late father was also an Assistant Inspector General of police.