Policemen Deployed For Election Duty Without Payment Lament To Journalists

Some policemen deployed for the recently concluded governorship election in Ondo State have lamented the non-payment of their allowance.

The officers, who spoke to journalists in Ibadan off-the-record on Thursday said it was worrisome that 19 days after the election, they had not been paid, wondering why policemen would be deployed for such sensitive assignments without giving any allowance.

Although the aggrieved policemen said some of their colleagues had been paid, but said those of them deployed to Ese Odo Local Government Area had not been paid, saying they spent their personal money while on the election duty.

One of them said, ” It is a pity that 19 days after the election, some of us have not been paid. If we do not speak out, the payment may never come. Some of our colleagues especially those posted to Owo Local Government Area have been paid but we have not been paid.

“Ese Odo Local Government was considered a very volatile area and being a riverine area, many did not even want to go there. That was why the NYSC did not even deploy corps members to those areas. Now they don’t want to pay us after the poll. Is that fair?”

“They said there was a signal for the payment before we went but we were not paid. We want them to pay us because we cannot use our salaries to carry out assignment for the Federal Government. Others have been paid and we must be paid.”

But the Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, Mr Gbenga Fadeyi, when contacted said the payment was not being handled by the command but the police authority in Abuja.

He, however, appealed to the affected persons that they would be paid.