Ayomide Awe
Scores of police officers deployed to Osun State for the August 15 governorship election have reportedly remained in the state weeks after the poll, with some personnel allegedly complaining about poor feeding and difficult living conditions.
Sources within the Nigeria Police Force said the affected personnel were drawn from several Police Mobile Force squadrons and deployed to different parts of the state ahead of the election.
According to the sources, some of the officers have remained in temporary camps despite the completion of their election duties, raising concerns over their welfare and why they have not been redeployed to their regular formations.
One of the sources described the situation as disturbing, alleging that some personnel had been left without meaningful assignments since the election ended.
The source said, “Officers of the Nigeria Police Force drawn from as many as 50 Mobile Police squadrons and deployed to Osun State are still being kept there weeks after the governorship election.”
The source further alleged that some of the officers were being kept under difficult conditions and were poorly fed.
Another source said some personnel were stranded around Gbongan in Osun State.
The development is coming weeks after the police mounted a massive security operation across the state for the governorship election.
Ahead of the poll, the Nigeria Police Force announced the deployment of more than 15,000 personnel across Osun’s 30 local government areas.
The deployment reportedly included personnel from the Police Mobile Force and other specialised units, with officers assigned to polling units, collation centres and other strategic locations.
The police had also deployed senior officers to coordinate the operation, including Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ishyaku Mohammed, while Assistant Inspectors-General and Commissioners of Police were assigned to the three senatorial districts.
The scale of the deployment was also reflected in figures released by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, which said 15,000 police personnel were deployed alongside 10,210 personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and 100 officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
This brought the number of personnel deployed from the three security and law-enforcement agencies to 25,310.
The massive deployment was intended to guarantee the safety of voters, electoral officials and other stakeholders and prevent violence during the election.
However, sources familiar with the post-election situation alleged that a significant number of the police personnel had yet to leave Osun, weeks after the conclusion of the exercise.
The allegations have raised questions about the continued deployment of the officers, particularly the reported welfare difficulties being experienced by some of them.
It was not immediately clear why the personnel had remained in the state or whether their continued stay was connected to any post-election security assignment.
Efforts to obtain an official reaction from the Osun State Police Command were reportedly unsuccessful as of the time of filing the report.
The command’s spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, was said to have neither responded to messages nor replied to text messages seeking clarification on the allegations.
The Nigeria Police Force has also not publicly explained the reported continued stay of the personnel in Osun or addressed the allegations concerning their feeding and living conditions.
PLATFORM TIMES could not independently verify the claims of poor welfare.
The police authorities are expected to clarify the status of the affected officers and whether measures have been put in place to ensure their welfare pending their return to their respective formations.
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