Reps tell FG to auction all police barracks in Nigeria

All police barracks nationwide should be put up for auction, due to a request made by the House of Representatives.

A public offering for all federally held barracks nationwide should be announced as soon as possible, according to a request made by the legislators to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Police Affairs to coordinate with the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE).

Following the House’s passage of a motion of urgent public significance regarding the need to address the appalling living conditions of Nigerian Police Force (NPF) officers, Hon. Murphy Omoruyi raised the issue of the resolution.

Presenting the motion, he reminded the audience that the Police Reform Bill 2020 was approved by the National Assembly in September 2020 and signed into law by former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on September 16, 2020.

Addressing the living conditions of the nation’s brave police officers was one of its main concerns, he said.

The lawmaker pointed out that the issue of providing police officers with decent housing endures and has outlasted all prior attempts at solutions.In spite of all efforts, Omoruyi noted, barracks are still unable to provide for basic requirements due to their current state of neglect and decay. She emphasized that the federal government spent more than N5 billion on barracks restorations between 2019 and 2022.

The congressman brought up the heated national discussions and demands for more community-focused policing tactics, pointing out that having police officers live among the general people instead of in their isolated barracks would greatly allay these demands and improve public safety.

The accommodation of police and local law enforcement officials in barracks, according to Omoruyi, is a remnant of colonialism that the same colonialists had long since abandoned back home.

He voiced concern over the state of filth that police officers and their families endure nationwide, a condition marked by enormous wall fissures, bat infestations, leaky roofs, and run-down barracks.

Omoruyi expressed her regret at the perception of police personnel as corrupt, stating that this was inextricably linked to their lack of access to welfare programs.

He claimed that because of their subpar working circumstances, the public no longer has faith or respect in the nation’s police.