Buhari’s police guards protest over unpaid risk caution allowances

About 127 police officers attached to the presidency in Abuja and the South-West are unhappy and grumbling over unpaid allowances.The police officers alleged that their bosses have been denying them more than two years Risk Caution Allowances (RSA) approved by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The yet-to-be-paid allowances run into millions of naira. The peeved policemen received this money during the administration of former presidents Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.

A reliable source disclosed that those affected are mostly corporals and inspectors while officers from the rank of assistant superintendent of police (ASP) to deputy superintendent of police (DCP) receive their allowances fully and regularly.

The corporals are said to be entitled to RSA of N75,000 monthly while inspectors are to receive N92,000. After several appeals to National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd) to intervene allegedly went unheeded, the aggrieved security officers approached a non-governmental organisation, Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN).

NOPRIN, through its National Co-ordinator, Okechukwu Nwagunma, wrote a petition to the NSA on December 5, 2016. The organisation said it was drawing the attention of the NSA to grumblings and complaints by police officers attached to the State House and Dodan Barracks in Lagos over unpaid risk caution allowances which may have been diverted, resulting in its non-payment.

NOPRIN requested the NSA to intervene to ensure a just resolution of the complaint.The angry policemen also want three of their top officers investigated in connection with the elusive allowances. They are DCP Abdulahi Dauda, Chief Principal Staff Officer to the President (CPSO), DCP Sikiru Akande in charge of Presidential Vehicle Movement (PVM) and CSP Abdulahi Ibrahim, Commander, MOPOL 24.

When The Guardian contacted DCP Dauda through his mobile number and sent text messages, there was no response.A presidential aide also declined to speak on the issue, insisting that it is a security matter.But Jimoh Moshood, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), said the police do not owe salaries and allowances as every officer has been paid as at when due.