About 1,056 youths recruited as Constabularies into the Nigeria Police Force to complement the police in maintaining Security in Kwara state on Saturday staged a protest in Ilorin over nonpayment of 16 months’ salary owed them by the state government.

The Special Constables staged the protest in strategic areas of the state capital including Challenge, Post Office and Ahmadu Bello way to the state government House echoing “Kwara state government, pay us our salaries for 16 months.

Some of the protesters rode on motorcycles carrying three passengers each while others who dressed in black Police uniforms covered their bodies with leaves as they marched along the streets.

The Constables complained that they have not been paid any salary by the state government since the completion of their training in April 2021.

The state police command however reacted that neither the state command nor the government made a financial commitment to be paying the Constabularies monthly salaries like the regular police officers before during and after their trainings.

But the state Commissioner for Communication, Mr Olabode Towoju said that the Police Constables were to be taken care of by the local governments in the state.

He said, “the Constabularies are not directly being paid by the state government. They are being taken care of by the local governments which have been paying them their stipends.”

Towoju explained that the government recruited some young men last year to beef up security as a result of the present security challenges and to reduce the unemployment rate in the state.

Spokesman of Kwara State police command, Ajayi Okasanmi in a press statement on the development said, “Kwara State Police Command wishes to dissociate herself from a video already spiralling on facebook, regarding a protest by some purported policemen over non-payment of one year salary.”

The statement stated that, “For purposes of clarification, the characters seen in the video are police special constabularies recruited to complement the operation of community policing.

“It is important to state that the concept of community policing and recruitment of special constabularies is voluntary in nature, meaning they are not on monthly remuneration like the conventional policemen. This much the constabularies were briefed about before taking up the job, besides, the job is not full time job, it said.

It added that “due to the complaints of the constabularies regarding nonpayment of stipends by the state government, the constabularies were invited for a meeting by the state government on ways by which their complaints could be looked into, hence their invite to the government house today.

“It was surprising that the same set of constabularies after the meeting with agents of the state government could go online with a video claiming that the government owes them salaries for a year.

“The commissioner of police Kwara State, CP Tuesday Assayomo psc (+) wishes to state categorically, that the police is not owing any policeman or woman any salary, neither is the police owing the special constabularies salary. Therefore, members of the public are advised to disregard the viral video as it was designed to embarrass the police and also to draw an undue sympathy from the public.

“The men and women of the special constabulary are at liberty to honorably disengage from the service if they so wish,” the statement concluded. (Vanguard)

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