‘Recall our husbands posted to Niger’ — police officers’ wives protest in Lagos

A group of women, who identified themselves as “wives of MOPOL 22 officers” have asked the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to recall their husbands said to have been posted on special duty to Niger state since 2021.

The MOPOL 22 officers were said to have been deployed to Beri village in Mariga LGA of Niger since February 2021.

According to NAN, the women protested for several hours at the Lagos police command in Ikeja, displaying placards with inscriptions such as ‘CP Lagos state, please look into our matter to call MOPOL 22 commander to order’; ‘CP, please release our husbands from Niger state after one year of special duty’;  and ‘MOPOL 22 commander, bring our fathers’.

Speaking on behalf of the women, Blessing Babagbemi, identified as the wife of one of the officers, said they have been struggling to survive since their husbands were posted to Niger state.

“Such posting is usually for three months and at most four months,” she said.

“One of the 31 MOPOL sent to Beri has been killed and one other injured, when bandits numbering about 900 stormed Beri village with motorbikes, armed with sophisticated and superior weapons.

“The first attack was on May 31, 2021 and the second attack was on January 16, 2022. After the first attack, our husbands saved money and bought things but the bandits came back again and took everything away.

“Our children are missing their fathers, and besides we are humans. We need our husbands back home. We expected that our husbands would be back in December but we did not see them.

“Last three weeks, we went to Oduduwa in Ikeja to see Bright Ibiye, MOPOL 22 commander, but we did not see him. They called the provost out for us. We told him we are wives of policemen sent on special duty. We told him we want our husbands to be released.

“The provost promised that our husbands will be back latest January ending or first week of February. The assurance gave us peace of mind. We left but on our way home, the provost said the commander wants to see us.

“We saw the commander and he promised that he was going to Abuja right away and will table our case and use our video clips he recorded as evidence.

“The commander then gave us two bags of rice and N10,000 which we shared. But up till now, we have not heard anything from them. Hence, we are here to protest at the police command due to lack of feedback.”

While commenting on the issue, Adekunle Ajisebutu, Lagos police spokesperson, said he was not aware of the protest, adding that there is no specific time for the return of officers on special duty.

He added that the Lagos command will make further findings on the issue from the force headquarters in Abuja.