Retired Superintendent of Police, Christopher Awolo, has opened up about corruption in the Force and the difficulties after retirement.
Goldennewsng reports that the ex-officer, in an interview with PUNCH, said retirement is like a death sentence for many police officers because there is no other source of income for them.
Awolo claimed there is no hope after retirement in the Force, stressing the pension scheme is a scam, and the Police should be excluded from handling it like the case of other armed forces such as the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Department of State Security Service (DSS), among others.
He noted that retirement benefits are always difficult, adding that ex-police officers are paid a year or two years after retirement.
He said, “Earlier, I alluded to the welfare of the Force and that it is one of the things that fuel indiscipline among police officers because retiring a policeman today, without any other source of income, is like a death sentence. It is nothing to write home about. This situation is in the minds of policemen because they see no hope after retirement. Due to the hardships occasioned by bad retirement benefits, many policemen die before they leave service.
“The national pension scheme is a scam, and unless the Police are excluded from it like the Nigerian Army, Navy, DSS, and National Intelligence Agency, Nigerians cannot get anything good from the Nigeria Police Force because when they (police officers) work and they know that there’s no hope after retirement, they’ll do anything they like to get what they want but they just cannot get the best. That is why many are not willing to join the Police.
“These days, new cops join the Nigeria Police as a last resort, which is true because aside from the bad pay, there’s insecurity and policemen are being killed everywhere. The payment of retirement benefits is becoming difficult. Sometimes, former police officers are paid a year or two after retirement and aafterwards the Force starts paying what they call stipends every month from PenCom. That is cheating that should not continue. Again, without removing the NPF from PenCom like they did for the rest of the armed forces, there’s no hope for quality policing in Nigeria.”