‘Strike Action Mutinous’ _ IGP warns personnel

IGP Usman Baba, on Monday, warned officers and men of the force that strike action by a lead security agency such as the police was tantamount to mutiny.

The warning is not unconnected to the Monday online and social media reports of an impending two-week warning strike fixed for March 26 by personnel of the Nigerian Police.

The last time a police strike happened, then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who appointed then IG of police, Mr. Musuliu Smith on May 29, 1999, fired him on February 2, 2002, for allowing such an unprecedented strike to take place.

Smith is the present Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

A statement issued by Police Force Headquarters warned that any strike action or any disruption of law enforcement services would be treated as mutiny.

“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to a news making the rounds on social media alleging that some members of the force will be embarking on a strike action with effect from March 26, 2022.

“The Nigeria Police Force wishes to state unequivocally that the alleged publication is fake and a mischievous attempt by unscrupulous individuals to bring the force to disrepute, misinform the general public, and heat up the polity”, it said.

“It is pertinent to restate that the Nigeria Police Force is a regimented and disciplined organisation with laid down rules and guidelines for addressing grievances and in no circumstance is a strike action one of such means.

“The men and women of the Nigeria Police Force are fully aware that a strike action or other deliberate disruption of law enforcement services by any security organisation is mutinous and the personnel of the force would not degenerate at any point to that level of disloyalty and indiscipline, as policing services are paramount and essential in the maintenance of orderliness and peace in the nation”, it said.

The statement signed by Acting Force Public Relations Officer and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Mr. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said government and police authorities were working to accelerate the full implementation of increment of salaries and allowances proposed by the president.

“It is pertinent to emphasise that the IGP is accelerating efforts to ensure the full implementation of the increment of salaries and allowances proposed by the President and approved by the Federal Executive Council.

“It is important to accentuate that it was the president’s initiative without any demand from the police to direct the process of increasing salaries and allowances. “The federal government is therefore fully committed to the implementation of the new salary package”, it said.

“Since that approval, the Salaries and Wages Commission has issued an implementation circular, the Honourable Minister of Police Affairs and the IGP have been working with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to ensure the stoppage of tax deductions as directed by the President and approved by the Federal Executive Council”, it said.