THE GUARDIAN
Monthly deduction of sports levy from the salary of policemen nationwide is unsettling rank and file of the Force, Bertram Nwannekanma and Albert Uba report.
There has been outcry over the withdrawal of about N150,897, 000 million from the June salaries of officers of the Nigeria Police Force nationwide.
The Guardian gathered that the withdrawal, christened the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sports Levy, which took effect from June, was at the instance of the immediate past IGP, Alkali Usman Baba.
Investigation revealed that N5,000 deductions were made from the salaries of the IGP, and down to the Commissioners of Police (CPs).
Also, N3,000 was deducted from the ranks of Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) down to the Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), while N2,000 was deducted from the salaries of the Superintendent of Police ( SP) to Inspector 1.
For the rank of Inspector 11, the sum of N1,000 was deducted, while N500 was taken from salaries of sergeants down to constables, respectively.
Currently, there are about 371,800 police officers in the country, with an IGP, eight Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs), 17 Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) manning 17 zonal commands, 37 Commissioners of Police (CPs) manning 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and eight others manning other units.
The implication is that N5,000 was deducted from each of 71 senior officers, totaling N355,000,000.
Also between the ranks of Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP), Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Superintendent of Police (SP), Inspector 1 and Inspector 11, about N2,000 was deducted from their salaries, totalling about N142,000, 000 from 71,000 officers.
For other ranks, totalling about 300,722 personnel, about N500 was deducted, coming to about N150,361,000.
Consequently, about N150,897,000.00 was deducted from the salaries of officers and rank and file, thereby creating mixed feelings and reactions among personnel.
Some senior officers, who spoke to The Guardian, expressed reservation about the idea, but do not really see anything bad with the withdrawal on the ground that the amount marginal.
However, the junior ones, especially the rank and file, with meagre salaries, were not supportive of the idea.
Some told The Guardian that that they should not be responsible for financing police sporting activities, noting that the culture was strange to the Force.
To them, they are not aware that the Police was planning any sporting activities to warrant deductions from their salaries, adding that the immediate past IGP Alkali Usman Baba was responsible for this.
Police sources, who spoke to The Guardian on condition of anonymity because they were not qualified to speak to the press, said they had resigned to fate because the deduction had begun already with the June salary.
