The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to auction all police barracks nationwide.
The legislator also asked the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Police Affairs to cooperate with the Bureau of Public Enterprise to quickly ascertain the value of all federal owned barracks nationwide and declare a public offering for same.
The resolution of the House was in consequence to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance on the need to address the deplorable living conditions of officers of the Nigerian Police Force suggested by Hon. Murphy Omoruyi.
Recall that in September 2020, the National Assembly passed the Police Reform Bill 2020, and it was signed into law by the former Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari on September 16, 2020.
One of the core issues of this bill had been to address the living conditions of the country’s gallant police officers.
Omoruyi had stressed that between 2019 – 2022 about N5 billion was spent by the federal government on renovating barracks, and that despite all efforts, the barracks kept failing to meet basic needs in their current state of disrepair and lack of maintenance.
It was emphasised that the method of using barracks to house police officers and local law enforcement officers was a relic from colonial days and that practice had since been abandoned by the same colonialists in their home countries.
In the present day, police officers and their families live in squalor, marked by huge cracks on the wall, bat-infested houses, leaking roofs and tumbledown structures for barracks across the country.
Lastly, Omoruyi had added that the public had lost confidence and respect in the country’s officers due to their poor conditions of service.
