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•Continued from last week
By Desmond Mgboh (Kano), Timothy Olanrewaju (Maiduguri), Scholastica Hir (Makurdi), Noah Ebije (Kaduna), Okey Sampson (Umuahia), Jude Chinedu (Enugu), John Adams (Minna), Ola Muhammad (Birnin Kebbi) and Paul Orude, (Bauchi).
Several years after shocking revelations were made about the uninhabitable state of police barracks in the country, the pitiful situation has remained the same.
Leaking roofs, broken fences, blocked and overflowing sewage systems, inadequate water supply and general neglect have become the lot of thousands of police personnel all over the country.
In this concluding part of the report first published last week, Saturday Sun brings you the hellish condition of police barracks in many states, as well as the sheer anguish being suffered daily by the officers living in them.
Kano: Police officers battle accommodation crisis
As a result of recent police housing reforms, residential buildings in some police barracks in Kano State have been demolished and are being reconstructed. Although some are being modernised, Saturday Sun gathered that some of the demolished barracks have been sold to public sector investors.
Saturday Sun also gathered that there are misgivings among police personnel over their accommodation. A number of the previous tenants of the old structures said that prior to the reconstruction they were assured that they would be given priority during reallocation of accommodation in the new buildings. However, many of them were yet to be re-accommodated in the new barracks.
They are also aggrieved at the way and manner they were hastily dislodged from their quarters in the barracks, without proper arrangement on how they would cope with rising costs of rent outside the barracks.
At the Bompai police barracks, situated at the command’s headquarters, Saturday Sun observed that there were some blocks of the old barracks that are still standing – old and worn out.
A police officer disclosed that the old barracks was built around 1970 and had housed several generations of officers. He noted that the facilities in the old barracks were overstretched by their occupants, arguing that, over the years, most of the police families lodged relatives in addition to their immediate family members, overstretching the available facilities and fast tracking their dilapidation.
Borno/Yobe: Police under the yoke of old, overstretched facilities
Decades of wear, neglect, and years of a protracted insurgency, have left police barracks in Borno under a burden they were never built to carry.
Across Maiduguri and the outlying towns, police personnel live in barracks with cracked walls and dilapidated structures.
The relentless terrorists’ attacks on police formations and barracks in major towns have further put these facilities in very poor conditions. Borno has about 10 main police barracks most of which are in Maiduguri and major towns including Biu, Bama and Gwoza. One of these is located behind the State Police Headquarters in Maiduguri.
Built in the 1980s to provide accommodation for a specific number of personnel, the barrack is now overstretched due to an increase in the number of personnel deployed to the state and assigned to the buildings.
For decades, the problem has been compounded. Ceilings stained by water, water closets that are no longer functional, and power lines that deliver only epileptic electricity supply.
In some barracks, two or three families share a single toilet. Though some of the barracks have been renovated either by police authorities or the state government, there are still no visible changes.
Ibrahim, a police officer in Maiduguri told Saturday Sun many personnel no longer reside in the barracks due to the poor state of the facility. He, however, expressed concern over the development, saying it is contrary to the initial tradition of the Nigerian Police.
“Police personnel ought to be quartered in decent barracks not far from their command or post. Sadly, this is no longer the situation because many personnel don’t want to raise their families in such an environment,” he said.
Many of the barracks are also without perimeter fences. The police officers’ barrack along Wulari-Jerusalem Road in Maiduguri is not fenced, vulnerable to security threats.
Poor sanitation, collapsing drainage in quarters that offer little rest or dignity is where they return to after battling insecurity in the region.
“I think it is one area that the country has not been fair to police personnel in the country; poor accommodation and pay,” Idriss Saleh, a member of the Civil Society Organisation said.
The situation in Damaturu and Potiskum, in Yobe State is the same as police personnel have to do some facelift on their apartment to make their homes fairly comfortable.
Benue: Dilapidated structures, no funds for maintenance
In Benue State, a visit to some of the police barracks revealed that no major renovation work has taken place in recent years.
Our correspondent gathered that the little repairs that were carried out on some apartments were done by the occupants who needed to bring their apartments up to a slightly comfortable level.
In one of the barracks in Makurdi, an officer who pleaded anonymity said the poor state of many police barracks in the state was largely due to inadequate funding for maintenance.
“The barracks are dilapidated because they don’t give us money for maintenance.
That’s just the truth. There’s not enough funding for maintenance of those barracks.
“Most of those barracks are older than most of us. If you are lucky to be allocated one, no matter the condition, you will have to use your money to renovate before you can stay there. And most officers don’t even have enough money to fix their apartments up to standard, so they live there like that. In fact, most of those barracks have been abandoned for years,” the officer said.
He noted that even when some interventions were made to improve the facilities they were often insufficient compared with the scale of the problem.
He said: “Of recent, the police started what we call Police Trust Fund interventions to renovate some of the barracks, but even that is very small. It is just like a drop in the ocean compared with what is needed.”
At the barracks visited, sanitation was not very good. An officer told our correspondent that they try their best to keep their environment clean but the state of structures makes nonsense of their efforts.
He said: “Even when officers try to maintain clean surroundings, it is difficult because the facilities are already dilapidated.
“There are no proper plumbing systems in some places, and most of the things you see officers doing in their houses are paid for from their own pockets. I have two children and I live in one room. It took years of renting houses outside before I inherited this one from my colleague who was going on transfer.”
The officer maintained that the housing situation remains a major challenge for police personnel and that substantial investment would be required to rehabilitate existing barracks and provide additional accommodation for officers.
Kaduna: Barracks in decay as housing pressures mounts
For many police officers in Kaduna State, having a roof over their heads has become a challenge as they are torn between paying rising rent from already stretched incomes and remaining in barracks where ageing buildings, poor sanitation and failing facilities pose many challenges.
Across Kaduna metropolis, the condition of some police barracks tells a troubling story of years of inadequate maintenance. At some residential facilities along Independence Way, Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Kawo and other locations, broken sewage systems emit offensive odours, gutters are damaged and some open spaces have been overtaken by weeds, livestock and makeshift economic activities.
In some compounds, backyards that were originally intended as open spaces have been turned to makeshift pens for chickens and goats. Elsewhere, residents have taken advantage of available land to cultivate maize, okra, groundnut and guinea corn within the barracks.
In areas where grasses have not been cleared or the land put to other uses, thick vegetation have taken over substantial portions of the premises.
The situation becomes more difficult during the rainy season. Broken gutters and drainage channels allow rainwater to flow into compounds, leaving muddy surfaces and making movement around some residential areas difficult.
Makeshift shops have sprung up against some of the residential buildings, with some positioned directly in front of windows and close to entrance gates.
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“These buildings were constructed many years ago and have received little maintenance. We need urgent rehabilitation before something tragic happens,” one resident said.
At the police barracks along Independence Way and in Kawo, signs of ageing are difficult to miss. Broken doors, shattered windows, damaged sanitary facilities and deteriorating roofs are common features of some of the older residential buildings.
During the rainy season, the anxiety becomes more pronounced, with residents having to contend with leaking roofs and fears over the safety of weakened structures.
Abia: Police officers still live in colonial buildings
In Abia State, the only police station that is known to have quarters is the Aba Central Police Station, otherwise known as the CPS, which equally houses the Aba Area Command.
The police quarters at the CPS, according to investigation, is as old as the station itself, having been built in the 1960s, with little or no functional amenities.
The quarters consist of a storey building of several apartments for senior officers and some old bungalows reminiscent of the colonial era, meant for junior officers.
Investigations also revealed that the buildings were last renovated over 15 years ago. A policeman who resides in the quarter with his family, but who did not want his name in print for fear of victimisation, informed that the renovation carried out then, was not holistic.
“Can we call that renovation in the real sense of it? What they just did was to re-roof and repaint the buildings at that time and nothing more.
“Just take a look around and see how crowded and dirty the place looks. Anybody living here and does not have a power generating set, should wave bye to electricity because we can hardly rely on public power supply.”
For years, according to another policeman, the barracks had no potable water, making residents go outside the barracks in search of water until a few years ago when a borehole was sunk in the barracks.
Enugu: Officers groan under decayed structures, high rent
Policemen serving in Enugu State are facing worsening accommodation challenges as dilapidated police barracks, high rents, and inadequate housing continue to compound their hardship.
Findings by Saturday Sun showed that a large proportion of police officers in the state live outside the barracks, with many forced to pay exorbitant rents from relatively low salaries.
A senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 80 per cent of policemen in the state live outside the barracks because of the poor condition and limited space in the barracks.
“I am one of them. Where I live, my three months’ salary cannot pay for the one-year rent. It is the situation for almost every policeman in Enugu,” he said.
The officer said the financial pressure was particularly severe for junior personnel, adding that even senior officers struggle to save money after meeting their basic needs.
“I can tell you confidently that after expenses, even senior officers cannot boast of N100,000 as savings by the end of the year,” he said.
He recalled that one of the major housing interventions for police personnel in the state came during the tenure of former Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonnaya Onovo, when police quarters were attracted to the Four Corners area.
According to him, however, access to the housing scheme was limited, with some officers allegedly benefiting through connections. He explained that beneficiaries were required to repay for the houses through salary deductions over a long period.
For a female constable recently posted to Enugu from Oji River, securing accommodation has become another battle.
“I was coming to work from Nsukka until I found where I am living now. It is just one room and I pay N300,000 for it. About six tenants share one toilet in the compound,” she said, disclosing that her monthly salary was about N90,000. An inspector described the condition of some existing police barracks as depressing. A visit to Ogui and Central Police Station barracks in Enugu showed several buildings at different levels of dilapidation, including worn-out roofing sheets, damaged ceilings and weakened structures.
Niger: Police living in 1952 buildings
In Niger State, the situation of Police Barracks could be described as a glorified Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camp with every infrastructure for human comfort either being non-existent or in a state of disrepair.
The Minna main police barrack, which was built by the colonial masters under the native authority in 1952, has undergone some expansions. The first expansion was in 1976, and in 1982, another section was added to the barrack. What is now called the Inspector/Officers quarters which was constructed primarily to accommodate medium cadres officers was built in 1992. Ever since then, no meaningful addition has been made to the barrack, which now accommodates only about 10 per cent of the 2,000 policemen serving within Minna, the state capital.
Police authorities refused to comment on the development saying that the situation is beyond their power. Apart from the main barracks in Minna, there are makeshift barracks in the three major cities of Niger State – Bida, Kontagora, Suleja, and all lacking the necessary facilities for human habitation.
Kebbi: Officers squat as barracks accommodation stretches beyond limited
Police personnel in Kebbi State are facing a severe accommodation shortage, with some officers forced to rent expensive houses or squat with colleagues, while several buildings in police barracks across the state remain uncompleted.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that police barracks are located in most of the Local Government Area headquarters across Kebbi State’s 21 councils.
In Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, there are five police barracks comprising one- and two-bedroom quarters for rank-and-file personnel, three-bedroom quarters for Inspectors, and three to four bedroom quarters for senior officers. At the police barracks within the Birnin Kebbi Police Station, located opposite Union Bank, some newly constructed buildings were observed to have water supply, a communication mast, a cooperative hall and road networks.
A senior police officer who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity explained that some of the newly constructed buildings were executed by contractors from Abuja and were not directly undertaken by the Nigeria Police Force.
The source further disclosed that one of the uncompleted buildings was being handled by the administration of the immediate past governor of Kebbi State, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, but work suddenly stopped following an alleged failure to pay the contractor.
At Mopol Police Barrack, Badariya, families of officers are living inside dilapidated buildings surrounded by farms. Further findings showed that existing quarters are still undergoing reconstruction. According to sources, a new block in the Inspectors’ quarters was constructed in Birnin Kebbi in 2021.
Some of the quarters are dilapidated and require renovations but work is currently ongoing in all the five barracks in Birnin Kebbi.
A junior police officer who recently joined the Nigeria Police Force told our correspondent that he sometimes squats with friends or sleeps in mosques and offices in Birnin Kebbi because he has no official accommodation and his hometown is far from the state capital.
Bauchi: Occupants of police barracks dig wells to get water
Police barracks under the Bauchi State Command are in poor and, in some cases, dilapidated condition, raising concerns about the living conditions of personnel and their families.
Our correspondent visited the Police Training School (PTS) Barracks along Yelwa Road, the Police Barracks along Yandoka Road, and the Mobile Police (MOPOL) Barracks along Gombe Road.
The condition of the facilities was largely similar, with many of the buildings at the PTS and MOPOL barracks showing signs of age and deterioration. Some had cracked walls, damaged roofs, and other visible defects.
The PTS appeared to be the worst affected, with personnel and their families struggling to access potable water.
“You have to dig your own well to get water,” a policeman lamented.
The Yandoka Road Barracks, however, appeared to be in relatively better condition. A female police officer who resides there said the barracks had been renovated about 12 years ago with electricity and water supply, although not all residents enjoyed regular water supply.
The officer, who was transferred from Zamfara State, said securing accommodation in the barracks was difficult for newly transferred personnel.
“For you to be quartered in the barracks, sometimes you have to talk to outgoing colleagues. It is like a hostel when you are new,” she said.
She explained that personnel normally apply for accommodation through the provost, subject to availability, but alleged that money and personal connections sometimes influenced access to quarters. She added that many personnel renovated their quarters at their own expense, explaining why renovated buildings could be seen beside dilapidated ones.
“Most of the renovations were done over 10 years ago. Many personnel make repairs themselves,” she said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, who had earlier said he was awaiting the Commissioner of Police’s approval to respond, later said the CP had granted consent but directed that the information be obtained from the Command’s Works Officer, who handles matters relating to the barracks. The PPRO said he had contacted the Works Officer, who was not available at the time but was expected to report the following day.
