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March 4, 2024
Another affected police officer lamented that “Many of us are in debts, many can't pay house rent nor pay children school fees.”
At least 160 officers of the Nigeria Police Force deployed to Somalia in 2022 for peacekeeping missions have lamented that the police authorities refused to pay their entire 15 months entitlements.
Some of the police officers who spoke with SaharaReporters on the issue said that they spent 15 months on the mission and returned to Nigeria over four months ago but while they were on the mission and since they came back to Nigeria, they have not been paid a dime.
One of the affected police officers said they were 160 police officers and that they were supposed to be paid 736 euros every month during the mission.
“I was away on a Peacekeeping Operation in Mogadishu, Somalia for 15 months. I just came back in October last year. This is over four months since we came back and we haven't been paid any dime since we came back, not even a dime.
“We are 160 members of the Nigeria Police Formed Unit and were supposed to be paid 736 Euro per month but they are still owing us 15 months allowance till date,” one of the police officers said.
Another affected police officer lamented that “Many of us are in debts, many can't pay house rent nor pay children school fees.”
SaharaReporters in January also reported that personnel of the Nigeria Police Force Peacekeeping Unit deployed to Somalia in 2021 and 2022 for peacekeeping missions lamented that the police authorities refused to pay their remaining entitlements.
Some of the police officers told SaharaReporters that Contingent 10 (both NFPU10 and NFPU11) spent 15 months each on the mission but while the European Union (EU) has released money to the police authority, NFPU10 officers have not been paid for two months while NFPU11 officers have not been paid three months.
The police officers said that the EU released the money to the Nigeria Police in September 2023 but to date, the police authority had not paid the money into their accounts.
Asked then whether they have made efforts to find out from the police authority why they have not been paid, one of the officers said, “The issue is that if anyone complains to them directly, they may use it against the person. You know we are a regimented organization.
“There has not been any formal complaint but even the Contingent 11 who went after are already back but they have also not been paid for three months.
“But from the information we gathered, the European Union has paid our authority money for five months - two months for ours and three months for Contingent 11 - but the money has not been paid into our accounts to date.”
Since then, several attempts made by SaharaReporters to reach the Director in charge of the Peacekeeping Directorate, DCP Augustine Moses Jagaba, for clarification failed.
He neither answered his calls nor replied to a text message sent to him.