The Nigeria Police, it has been learned, has hiked the cost of a Police Character Certificate -PCC, also known as police clearance, by around 700 % to N40, 000, from its previous price of N5, 000. PCC is a document given by the Nigeria Police to certify that an individual does not have any criminal record, criminal conviction, or is trying to escape prosecution for crimes committed in the country.
The document is mainly sought by individuals, mostly youths, traveling out of the country to further their studies or to take up employment; though some organizations in Nigeria sometimes ask certain individuals to provide the PCC.
Several policemen disguised as students looking to obtain the PCC said they received a directive from the police authorities that on July 22, 2022, the price of the document should be hiked to N40, 000 on that same day, without any reasons given. One of the policemen at the Lagos Command reported that before that directive, they had issued the PCC for N5, 000.
Another police official in Abuja had previously agreed to process it for N25, 000, thinking it was the price at which it was normally done, but on presenting the data for a check, he was told that the price has been increased to N40, 000 since July 22, 2022. Before the official hike, the actual price was known to could range from as low as N5, 000 to as high as N100, 000, depending on the policeman one approaches or the individual asking for it.
All efforts by our correspondent to get reactions from the Nigeria Police Force through the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in the person of DSP Adeh Josephine, proved negative as she did not answer calls, or replied to text messages.
