Some of the cadets told SaharaReporters that life is no longer meaningful in the academy where they are without freedom, fed with substandard meals and denied access to their families.
There is anger at the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State, as the police authorities led by the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, failed to pass out 418 cadet Assistant Superintendents of Police who had been enrolled since 2015.
SaharaReporters learnt that the cadets came in December 2015 and after spending the statutory five years, should have have passed out since December 2020, but the authorities kept bringing up excuses.
SaharaReporters was told that inefficiency at the NPF Academy has stalled the passing out of the cadet ASPs amidst the shortage of policemen to quell insecurity in the country.
Some of the cadets told SaharaReporters that life is no longer meaningful in the academy where they are without freedom, fed with substandard meals and denied access to their families.
One of them said, “What is bewildering is the fact that we, the Cadet ASPs Regular Course Three, were admitted in December 2015 for five academic years which terminated in December 2020. For six months now, we have been doing nothing in the academy.
“I know at least six cadets who have lost their parents this year and were not able to see them or pay their last respects, due to the restrictions around here. The police authorities have refused to organise our passing out, despite the arrival of a new Inspector General of Police.”
“It is not so for our colleagues in the National Defence Academy. At a time our nation is confronted with many threats occasioned by security challenges experiencing across all parts of the country, and most importantly, the fact that the current management of the force has confessed that the Nigeria Police Force presently is understaffed and therefore confronted with inadequate manpower, why are we still here?” another cadet queried.
“We ought to have been commissioned since December 2020 to start police duties. Our passing out has been postponed several times when the NDA passed out in October 2020. Many dates have been fixed for our POP – April 1, April 12, and May 25, all in 2021 and none of these dates has seen the light of the day.”
SaharaReporters learnt that the academy is presently screening the Regular Course 8 despite not passing out the Course 3, which is giving the cadets a lot of worry.
Another cadet said, “The worst part of it is that it is obvious the force management has forgotten us in the academy and presently they don't even know when we will be passing out. The school authorities are set to commence screening of Course 8 on June 19 whereas the Regular Course Three Cadet ASPs have been abandoned in the academy without being commissioned.
“The questions that have remained unanswered are: What could be the political gains or reasons that are meant to be achieved with this delay? What politics could the management be playing with the destiny and future of young cadets?
“One can wonder the psychological trauma these cadets are going through having stayed five years, 6 months and still counting in the academy,” a source at the academy said.