Fear grips Lagos police as barracks demolition begins
By Christopher Oji
Fear and uncertainty now pervade police ranks following the ongoing demolition of Falomo Police Barracks, Lagos, as over 22 other police barracks have been marked for demolition.
Police high command had marked 25 barracks for demolition and redevelopment, including Ije Police Barracks, Obalende, Highway Police Barracks, Ikeja, K9 Police Barracks, Ikoyi, Falomo Police Barracks (A and B), Bar Beach Police Barracks, Victoria Island, Mopol 20 Barracks, Ikeja, Women Police Barracks, Obalende, Model 2 Police Barracks, Keffi Street, South-west Ikoyi, Mounted Troops, Ribadu Road, Ikoyi, Queen Barracks, Apapa, FPRO Annex Office and Barracks, Ijora Olopa, Iponrin Police Barracks, Surulere, Adekunle Police Barracks, Yaba, Federal Highway Patrol Office, Yaba, Alausa Police Barracks, Ikeja, Mounted Troops, Ikeja, Okesuna Police Barracks, Obalende, and McCarthy Barracks, Obalende.
Others are Force Headquarters Annex, Obalende, Obalende Police Barracks, Obalende, Bourdillon Police Barracks, Ikoyi, New Staff Quarters, Ikeja, Elere Police Barracks, Agege, Onikan Officers Mess, Ikoyi, and Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Milcerton Street, Ikoyi.
The demolition exercise has commenced with Folomo Barracks, Ikoyi.
Policemen living in the barracks have narrated their plight to Daily Sun, calling on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, to come to their rescue and live up to expectations on the promises the police high command made to them concerning their welfare.
A team of policemen, led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police who visited The Sun Newspaper’s office in Ikeja, recently, said they were going through a difficult period.
ASP Akinsola (not real name), said, “We are not complaining that Folomo Barracks is being demolished, but the manner of demolition is totally bad. Mobile policemen who came to enforce the demolition exercise intimidated us. How could the organisation we serve still use our colleagues to bully us? This is wrong. “Really, we understand that the barracks are dilapidated and need renovation or total demolition to build a new one, but the authorities did not live to their promises. The police authorities promised that they would give us money that would be enough to rent apartments close to where our barracks are.
“For instance, I was living in Folomo Police Barracks, Ikoyi. I was staying in two-bedroom apartment. My children school at Obalende, which is not far from Folomo, Now the police authorities only gave us N2 million to rent a house; N2 million cannot rent a one-bedroom apartment in Ikoyi. You need from N4 million to get a two-bedroom apartment. The only places that #2 million can successfully rent a two-bedroom apartment are communities in Lagos surburbs. As it is, I have moved to Ikorodu and you know what it means to be going to work on the Island from Ikorodu.
“My children have been squatting with my relatives in Obalende, but as new school session has resumed, i have to change school for my kids. To relocate a family of five is not a joke. I have to pay school fees and sew new school uniforms for them. All these are done with the N2 million the police authorities paid us to leave the barracks.
“The real issue is that the police have exposed us to danger. Considering the economic and security challenges confronting the country, policemen have been sacrificed on the altar of insecurity. We now live outside the barracks and live in the midst of criminals. The situation reports and investigation have shown that criminal elements, especially kidnappers and robbers, hibernate on the outskirts of the metropolis and those areas are the places that N2 million the police authorities gave to us can afford. Well, as of me, I will never ever put on my police uniform. I will keep my identity secret, but what of if a person visits my station and sees me there? The question for the police authorities is, why they have subjected us to mental and psychological torture?”
For Inspector Francis, the police force has injured his family: “This action of the force that betrayed us is like a thunderbolt hitting us bellow the belt. Our wives who engaged in petty trade assisted many of us, but today our wives are out of jobs as their shops or makeshift sheds have been demolished. Now that school has resumed, I don’t know what to do. I am living in a room in Ikorodu because that is the only house I can afford. I don’t know why the police who promised that they would provide us money that would be commensurate with the amount they pay as rent near our barracks ended up giving us a paltry sum of money that can’t pay for a room in Ikoyi. Like the first speaker said, we are now prone to criminal attacks. When my landlord asked me the nature of job that I did, I lied him that I was a businessman. He said that I should get a letter of attestation from my office before he could give me the house. I begged one of my friends, who sells iron rods, to give me a letter of attestation, which he did. My children are out of school because changing schools for kids in Lagos is not easy and we have to be careful not to also endanger their lives. My wife is looking for a shop where she will continue with her foodstuffs business, but is it easy to start afresh?
“We are calling on the IGP to address the injustice done to us by the force and pay us the balance of the money. He should re-evaluate the money that is supposed to rent apartments that we can afford near our former barracks.
“I know that the IGP may say that it is too late since we have paid for houses, but the balance can help us to open businesses for our wives or to change schools for our children.”
For Mark, a resident of Ije Police Barracks, “Without being told, the axe will soon fall on Obalende Barracks and the next is Ije. Well, we are not disputing that the barracks need renovation or total demolition, but the police high command should do things with a human face. The force should emulate the Nigerian Army, who, when they demolish barracks, would relocate its personnel to a safer place, and after the barracks are completed would hand over the place to the rightful owners. How can N2 million rent a two-bedroom in places like Obalende, Ikoyi, Mainland? We are talking of relocation of families. This is not easy.
“I speak for the entire residents of barracks in Lagos. Let them be treated fairly and let them be given money that can rent houses near their former residential areas. For instance, the military won’t allow their personnel to live outside the barracks. This singular act won’t make us to function optimally. We have been demoralised seeing what has happened to our colleagues. The police high command must not renege on the initial promise of giving us money that is commensurate with rent near our barracks.”
Meanwhile, when Daily Sun visited Folomo Police Barracks, bulldozers were busy demolishing the structures, while five patrol vehicles manned by heavily armed police officers were on the scene.
When contacted for reactions, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said, “Policemen visited your office, tell them to see me.”
No fewer than a million officers and their families would be evicted from the barracks with the demolitions, which will be followed by redevelopment of the barracks.
The first phase of the reconstruction in the affected barracks has already commenced by the Nigeria Police Force Property Development and Construction Company.
The police said personnel should be deployed to work closely with the company’s officials and their partners to ensure that every occupant vacates the barracks once they are paid their dues.
A superintendent of police in Lagos claimed that the notice to quit was given to all officers living in the barracks since 2014 by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.
The high-ranking officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, since the notice was served, all officers living in the barracks have been receiving rent subsidies like those living outside the barracks.
“So they always knew that a time like this would come and so they have themselves to blame,” the officer said.
He added that the notice was not served to individuals, but came as a general communiqué.