Nationwide police barracks should be put up for auction, according to a House of Representatives resolution.
According to Naija News, the House is proposing that action to address the appalling living circumstances that police officers face across the nation.
After Rep. Murphy Omoruyi (LP-Edo) adopted a motion of urgent public interest during Thursday’s plenary in Abuja, the House came to its decision.
The legislator claims that on September 16, 2020, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Police Reform Bill 2020 into law after it was approved by the National Assembly.
He stated that improving the living conditions of the country’s police officers was one of the Act’s main goals.
Omoruyi clarified that despite the fact that billions of dollars have been spent nationwide to repair police barracks, all attempts to do so have been unsuccessful.
“The Federal Government spent more than N5 billion on barracks renovation between 2019 and 2022,” he stated.
“Relocating Nigeria Police officers from their isolated barracks to living among the general public will greatly satisfy these calls and improve public safety.”
The congressman went on to say that the system of keeping police and local law enforcement officials in barracks was a holdover from colonial times that the colonialists had long since abandoned.
The congressman claimed that the appalling living conditions of police officers had lowered their morale and productivity, and that as a result of their subpar performance, even the people had lost faith in and respect for the cops.
He claims that because of the existing circumstances, police officers are stigmatized as corrupt because of their inadequate welfare.
He claimed that among other things, dwellings infested with bats, leaking roofs, and wide wall breaches were indicative of the filth that police officers and their families endured.
He proposed that officers should receive “Housing Allowance” in lieu of the barracks model, which would be based on rank, the current police compensation structure, and location.
After the House passed the motion, it recommended that the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Police Affairs work with the Bureau of Public Enterprise to determine the national value of all federally owned barracks.
A public offering for the same should be announced, according to the House.
In order to provide a thorough addendum to the Police Reform Bill with input from all pertinent parties, the House established an ad hoc committee.
Additionally, the House directed the Committee on Appropriations to make sure that the monies intended for national barracks maintenance be redistributed.
It required the Committee on Police Affairs to monitor compliance and asked the committee to set aside money each year in the budget for a suitable “Housing Allowance” for active police officers.
Within four weeks, the committee was instructed to provide a report to the House.
