Reps probe alleged deceased police insurance claims fraud, non- payments by firms

Members of the House Representatives Adhoc Committee on Insurance are investigating alleged selective payment of group life insurance claims of deceased police personnel as well as non- payments by some companies running into billions of naira.

The nepotism in claims payments is said to be a source of great concern to the legislators and families of the deceased personnel. The lawmakers are also angry with the police authorities over alleged shabby treatment meted on them by the Inspector General (IGP), Idris.

They are threatening a showdown with the police chief and to summon him. They had gone on a prearranged visit to the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters for a scheduled meeting with the IGP but were allegedly ignored and kept in the SPO’s office for hours prompting, lawmakers to leave in protest.

But members of the committee, led by its Chairman Hon. Adekunle Abdulkabir Akinlade, were shocked when they got to the elevators and were allegedly prevented from using the facility ostensibly to prevent them from leaving the premises.

But determined to prove their point, the members were said to have braved the odds as they came down from the seventh floor using the staircase. Akinlade said the IGP’s action was surprising and is symptomatic of the increasingly contemptuous disregard for the parliament by top officials of government.

He said after several failures to appear before the committee to answer to some irregularities in the administration of the Police Insurance Group Life and alleged selective settlement of claims of deceased personnels, the IGP invited members of the committee for a meeting only to treat them with complete disrespect.

“What happened is most unfortunate and unacceptable,” he stated. He added that the IGP would be summoned upon resumption of the legislature on April 25, 2017 to clarify areas of concerns to the committee.