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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

Security personnel protest unpaid duty allowances for Osun poll

From The Punch · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Security personnel from NSCDC, Immigration, Federal Fire Service, and Correctional Service deployed for the Osun governorship election have not received their duty allowances.
  • Police personnel in Osun State received N120,000 in two installments after the election.
  • Affected personnel reported harsh working conditions and expressed discouragement over the delayed payments.

Personnel from several security agencies deployed for the Osun State governorship election on August 15 are reportedly still awaiting their duty allowances. This includes members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Fire Service, and Nigeria Correctional Service.

We worked under Deputy Commandant General, Operations, Philip Ayuba, who coordinated our activities during the election.

— Anonymous NSCDC personnelDescribing the command structure during the election duty.

In contrast, personnel from the Osun State command of the Nigeria Police Force received a total of N120,000 in two payments shortly after the election. The NSCDC had deployed over 10,000 personnel from various commands across the South-West and other states, while the Correctional Service deployed around 300 personnel, primarily from the Osun command. The exact numbers for the Immigration Service and Federal Fire Service were not immediately available.

I was posted to one of the local government areas within the Ile-Ife metropolis. I arrived in Osogbo on Monday, August 10. We slept on the premises of a secondary school in Osogbo. They later took us to the Osun Command headquarters on Wednesday. That day, the Commandant General, Ahmed Audi, came around and addressed us.

— Anonymous NSCDC personnelDetailing the arrival and initial accommodation arrangements before deployment.

One affected NSCDC personnel, speaking anonymously, described working under difficult conditions. "We slept on the premises of a secondary school in Osogbo," the individual recounted, adding that they received an initial N30,000 cash payment before being deployed to their local government areas. "I have since returned to my command, and nothing else has been paid to us. It is very discouraging. We worked under very harsh conditions in Osun during the election."

We complained about poor welfare and requested that we should be paid a stipend for feeding. The following morning, before we moved to our various local government areas, we received a cash payment of N30,000 each.

— Anonymous NSCDC personnelExplaining the welfare issues and the initial payment received.

Officials from the Federal Fire Service requested time to investigate the matter. However, the NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi, attributed the delay to the verification of details submitted by deployed personnel. Afolabi stated that payments have begun for affected personnel, urging for patience during the verification process.

I have since returned to my command, and nothing else has been paid to us. It is very discouraging. We worked under very harsh conditions in Osun during the election.

— Anonymous NSCDC personnelExpressing discouragement over the delayed payment of allowances after difficult service.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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