He was drenched with sweat by the time he wriggled himself through the
narrow entrance of his room into the passageway. Looking very depressed
and drowsy that Thursday afternoon, he dragged himself along the
hole-ridden passage and collapsed into the rickety sofa beside the
staircase that leads to the upper floors in one of the buildings in the
barracks.
With frustration written all over his face, Emma Uden (not real names), a
sergeant in the police, kept muttering to himself, but dosed off few
minutes later. Apparently disturbed by the music blaring in his
neighbourhood, Uden could not but open his eyes feebly and
intermittently.
His pain was obvious to anyone who came across him, but the reason for
his frustration was largely unknown. However, as Uden would later tell
our correspondent in a conversation he grudgingly consented to, since
the apartment allotted to him in the barracks collapsed in June last
year, he and his family had been living in the kitchen of one of the dilapidated buildings in Pedro police barracks, Somolu, Lagos. That was his main frustration.
“It was the only alternative we had at that time,” he said, as he unbuttoned his shirt to enjoy some fresh air.
Since he and his family were constrained to live in a room (kitchen), he
said life had become one of bitterness and frustration. To escape the
intense heat of the day and the constant constraint of space that his
family of six could never live comfortably with, Uden had been used to
sitting outside anytime he was home.
Hoping that respite could eventually come his way if he opened up to Saturday PUNCH,
Uden wasted no time in leading our correspondent to his room where he
lives with his wife and their four children. He opened the door and
lowered his head as he made to enter, to avoid being bruised on the head
by the doorframe. As he opened the curtain for our correspondent to
enter, the odour, which seemed like a mixture of wet rug and accumulated
sweat, that oozed out of the stuffy room was disturbing and could make
anybody puke.
The room was like a store reserved for unused household items. The only
window in the room appeared dysfunctional while the base of the wall
that was visible was seriously dampened, and the ceiling riddled with
signs of serious dilapidation. Expectedly, Uden, whose four children had
occupied the only bed in the room, appeared discomfited by the state of
the place he called home as he continually scratched his head to look
for the right words.
Even though he is not alone in such a tortuous situation in the
premises, he said he had resorted to coming home just to sleep, unless
he was off duty. This, he said, was to avail his family some space in
the room and that sometimes he would rather stay
in his office or volunteer to go on patrol, all in a bid to stay away
from home. They don’t even live alone in the house, occasionally, the
family live with big rats that find their way out of the broken septic
tank located close to the kitchen into the room.
He said, “When we were still living in the room and parlour before our
building collapsed last year, we were managing because of the small
space, not to talk of now that we have just one room, which used to be a
kitchen. It’s like living in a cave. That is the lot of most of us.
“Can you imagine that? We live in a kitchen, and you want policemen to
be your friends while you all live in your comfortable mansions. You
expect us to carry rifle and risk our lives to protect people. Haba!”
His passionate expression of grief was second to none, even though he
said he had concluded arrangements to leave the barracks for a room and
parlour accommodation he secured somewhere in Bariga area of Lagos.
He added, “If nobody takes care of us, we will take care of ourselves,
because apart from the space issue, we (residents of this barracks)
queue to use toilet and bathroom, because the ones available are not
adequate. So we queue to bathe every morning. Here, three-room and
parlour flats share
one toilet and bathroom. For me and my family who live in an abandoned
kitchen, we pair with another flat. So, we join the queue every morning.
“Don’t forget that we are all adults with families. I feel ashamed that I
go through this every morning? Tell those people in government what you
saw here. Let them know we are suffering. Even when we get to the
office, we either sit under the tree or stand in the sun.”
Some other policemen in the barracks who shared Uden’s views, lamented
over the poor state of infrastructure in the barracks, saying they had
always been living in perpetual fear for their lives, occasioned by the
decrepit buildings.
As our correspondent observed during the visit, almost all the buildings
in the barracks had obvious signs of imminent collapse. In fact, the
derelict of the block six that collapsed last year gives an impression
that the collapse must have been imminent before it happened.
‘I cry when I look at my children’
One of Uden’s neighbours, who also lives in a room and parlour, told Saturday Punch that
it is interesting that Nigerians expect so much from policemen they are
not well taken care of. He said the hardship and the living condition
he had had to subject his four children and his pregnant wife to made
him cry sometimes.
Fighting back tears, he said, “Sometimes, when I look at the way my
children sleep on the floor, sweat almost all the time because of the
poor ventilation, and the obvious frustration and inconvenience written
on their faces, I cry. I know that they are not happy with the
situation, but they are helpless.
“I pity them when I see them going out
to look for water, living in such a condition. Sometimes, when I’m at
work, I think about them and it affects me. These things make me cry,
silently. Sometimes, we are on the same queue at the entrance of the
bathroom. You can imagine that. Which father will be proud of such?”
The situation at the Pedro Barracks is akin to what obtains in many
other barracks across the country. It also revealed how barracks that
used to be a status symbol for policemen have become a shadow of death
in disguise.
In the past, it was mandatory for police officers and men to live in the
barracks, as they were prevented from living among ‘civilians,’ but
years after, the reverse is now the case.
These days, the status symbol is for any policeman worth his salt to
live outside the barracks due to the ignominious life that obtains in
there. Some of them even said jokingly that they live like prisoners.
This shift, as pointed out by the policemen who have lived in the
barracks for many years, was due to the lack of maintenance of the
barracks, increasing population with no attendant improvement in
facilities and the refusal of the government to build new barracks for
policemen.
Lamentation galore in police barracks
Entering the Obalende barracks, which contains an array of two-storey
buildings for officers and men, one would not but get an impression of
entering a calm and pleasant neighbourhood, more so that it is shielded
from the ever noisy Obalende motor park that adjoins the premises.
However, just a few metres into the compound, the initial excitement and
optimism in any visitor’s mind tend to diminish, being replaced swiftly
by a puff of disappointment, shock and intense confusion.
The visitor is greeted by dilapidated structures, garnished with cracked
and broken walls, overgrown weeds that line some of the major roads,
broken sewage pipes littering some backyards, flooded and stinking
drainages. Signs of reckless abandonment were all over the place. And
the facility houses hundreds of police officers and their families who
live in perpetual fear for their lives.
Apart from the fact that each officer is only entitled to a room and
parlour with no private toilet and bathroom, each floor of the buildings
(having nine flats on each floor), has about two toilets and bathrooms.
Thus, the policemen and their families queue to use the facilities,
coupled with the unstable water supply in the premises.
‘Our children pray never to be like us’
Another policeman who said he should be referred to as Mr. Obi Andrew,
who lives in Obalende barracks, and would rather not disclose his real
name or rank, lamented that anytime he had the opportunity of discussing
with his children, they would always vent their anger and frustration
about living in the barracks.
He said, “They tell me that they feel ashamed of themselves in the
presence of their mates, and that’s why I withdrew them from a private
school and took them to a police school. My youngest son once told me
that he would never be a policeman, but he would do everything possible
to join the army, air force or navy. They keep telling me to look for
another job, and seriously, I’m considering it. In fact, my wife sings
it to my ears now.
“They are just tired of living in the barracks, and since I can’t afford a better accommodation at the moment, they have to endure it, and I have to keep encouraging them.”
A policewoman, a divorcee, who identified herself simply as Grace, said
her children, whom her ex-husband left in her custody had never hidden
their dislike for her job. She said, “My daughter tells me that with the
kind of life that we are subjected to in the barracks, if that is the
best way to be rewarded for serving one’s country as a police officer,
she would never be one.
“Barracks life is not the best for any child, or even parent. Most of us
live here because of financial issues and because living here is
cheaper and maybe safer.”
‘We are ashamed of having visitors’
It’s the same story of lamentations when our correspondent visited the
Ijeh barracks, located around Obalende in Lagos Island. To a visitor,
the room and parlour apartments, which share boundary with the old
Dolphin Estate, look like block of stores with its frontage used mostly
for petty trading by the wives of the policemen.
On the other side of the divide, separated by dirt and flooded stinking
drainages, the story isn’t any better in the room and parlour bungalow,
even though it’s located opposite a posh estate in the area, Abdullahi
Adamu Housing Estate.
One of the policemen in the barracks, who pleaded anonymity, told SaturdayPunch
that the barracks is the worst place to live during the rainy season,
as he said all the frontage and entrances to their homes would be
flooded.
Because of the state of the barracks, this policeman and a few of his
colleagues said they would never think of entertaining visitors in their
homes.
“Anyone who wants to see me should come and meet me in the office or
anywhere else. How can I receive a visitor in this kind of environment
and such a person won’t look down on me?” he said.
Bright added, “There was a time my brother-in-law came in from the United States, and I hired a taxi to
pick him from the airport. So, as we drove down towards Obalende, he
admired the bridges and the streetlights, coupled with the trading
activities that were still on at that time of the night.
“But on approaching Ijeh, the bad road and the darkness that enveloped
everywhere changed his appraisal. By the time we got to my apartment, he
managed to alight and say hello to the kids and then offered to look
for a hotel to stay.
“On one hand, I wasn’t happy because of the embarrassment, but on the
other hand, I was relieved that he went back, because if he had slept in
that house that night, he would have been full of regrets. He would
have been battered by mosquitoes which we contend with and the stuffy
nature of the room. Besides, there might have been no space for him,
unless on the sofa. So, it’s sad.”
It was also learnt that some policemen who had not been able to secure
accommodation in the barracks put up planks where they sleep at night.
At the Ikeja police barracks, the one sharing boundary with Mobolaji
Bank Anthony Way, it is another eyesore. On one hand are the overflowing
septic tanks characterised by flies and the attendant smell, and on the
other hand are the structural defects that adorn the buildings,
including wide cracks, and an environment that exude neglect.
Findings showed that every policeman in the barracks is only entitled to
a room and parlour, thus, regardless of their family size, they have a
small space to play with, while about two or three flats have to share
one toilet and bathroom. Some of the residents told Saturday Punch that the hygiene of the facilities remains an area of concern.
Bright noted, “Even when you choose to be neat, what of other people who
share the toilet or the bathroom with you? Sometimes, I get to the
toilet and someone would have used it without flushing it. In such
cases, you either flush it and use or leave. How do you trace the person
who did that, when about 15 people or more from three families could be
entitled to it.
“There are cleaners, but what can they do. Soon after cleaning, the
place is messed up already. Only God has been protecting our children
from contracting diseases.”
Apart from some broken pipes conveying human waste materials and
attendant smell, some of the septic tanks had no proper covering while
some were already overflowing and awaiting evacuation. Thus, rats move
freely, even in daytime.
‘I’m worried about my children’
No doubt, life in the barracks is in sharp contrast to what obtains in
some saner climes. As Grace pointed out that barracks was not the best
place to raise children, it could be observed that even teenagers and
underage girls would easily be exposed to what should be the exclusive
reserve for adults.
Some mothers pointed out that life in the barracks had always been a
loose one and something to worry about, more so that peer pressure is a
serious issue for teenagers.
For Mrs. Ada, a teacher, whose husband, an Inspector, leaves home for
work very early each morning, it is by God’s grace that one of her
daughters has not been impregnated so far in the barracks.
“She used to move around with one of my neighbours’ sons, who is about
her age, but I never suspected anything until the day I caught them
touching themselves in vital areas. I almost killed her because I don’t
want her to end up like some others here. If I had told my husband, he
would have beaten the daylight out of her because the boy’s father is a
junior officer to him. So it’s a challenge and I’m worried about them.
These things happen outside, but I think it’s more in the barracks.
‘We protect lives but nobody cares about us’
In other climes, it is a thing of pride to be a policeman but in
Nigeria, it is a different reality. When Mr. James Eze joined the police
force many years ago, he said he loved the job and his intention was to serve
his country in his own way. But now, Eze, who joined the force as a
complete man has almost lost one of his legs at the dilapidated barracks
at Ojuelegba where he used to live. He could not hide his feelings
while speaking with our correspondent recently.
Eze while narrating how he broke his leg in front of his own apartment,
said he had just finished eating and decided to relax outside when the
incident happened. “I was still busy rubbing my stomach and savouring
the delicacy when, suddenly, rubbles from the slab of the floor above my
head fell on my left leg and broke my left foot,” he said.
He explained that the injury he sustained on his leg did not only put
him in pains, it ruptured the leg such that he could no longer wear
shoes until recently.
He said, “If I knew, I would have stayed inside and endured the heat,
just that sometimes staying inside is like being in the bakery. My
brother, in spite of what I went through, not much was done to help me
and nobody really cared, so I had to take to my heels with my family.
“Before I left, sometimes while climbing the staircase, you’d need to
say your last prayer because those stairs can collapse anytime. The
buildings in that barracks are very old, but nobody is doing anything
about it. And many people live there. Many other people have been
injured, but let’s leave it there.”
When our correspondent visited the Ojuelegba barracks, from the
distance, it was like an abandoned property left to collapse, due to its
level of dilapidation. But as bad as it is, it houses hundreds of
police officers and their families, who live there with hope and
optimism rather than peace of mind and joy. Suffice to say the buildings
in this barracks are disasters waiting to happen.
“We spend our entire time protecting lives and properties, but see where
we live. Anytime I’m coming home I feel sad. I’m not even proud to
bring my relatives or friends here because it’s shameful,” a resident
toldSaturday Punch.
When former governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, went to
inaugurate the administrative building of the Area ‘C’ Police Command
beside the Ojuelegba barracks, he had warned that something urgent
needed to be done by the Federal Government to address the poor state of
the buildings in the barracks to avoid a collapse.
Apart from the untidy premises occasioned by lack of maintenance,
standing on the pavement of the first floor was like standing under the
shadow of death, because just like Eze experienced, one could see part
of the iron rods used for the casting of the slab of the upper floor.
The slab had not only weakened, pebbles fell down from it occasionally
and part of the iron rods used to hold the concrete had pulled out of
position and could injure any tall person in the dark. There were wide
cracks on the walls, and because of broken pipes, the bathroom and
kitchen walls had a stomach-churning colouration and outlook, while
holes of different sizes dot some walls.
Apart from the infrastructural decay, residents spread clothes on the lines in their frontage making the environment disgusting.
But in spite of the bad state of the barracks, findings showed that
policemen would always look for accommodation there, because, according
to them, it is cheaper and safer to live among themselves.
“The amount they deduct from our salary for lodging could be about N10,
000, depending on rank, and it is deducted from source. Whereas, if you
don’t stay in the barracks, they pay you like housing allowance, just
that it is small. Besides, barracks are safer and there can’t be armed
robbery there, unless petty stealing from within, and it is not
rampant,” a resident said.
Police, an endangered security agency
Unlike their counterparts in the army, Navy and Air Force, who live in
decent and comfortable accommodation, policemen seem to live like
refugees in their own barracks.
Findings showed that the least form of accommodation for soldiers in the
army barracks and navy officers in their barracks is a decent
two-bedroom flat while police officers struggle to get a decrepit room
and parlour accommodation lacking basic amenities.
Apart from the respect accorded these two agencies, findings showed that
policemen, who have the primary responsibility of protecting lives and
properties and are closer to the civil populace, have a lot to contend
with, including poor societal perception, delayed promotion and many
other issues.
Coupled with their salary, which they often describe as not too good,
some of them are now into some private ventures to make more money, such
as being security guards for private institutions and car dealers, while many lobby for special postings.
Bright said, “It seems being a policeman in Nigeria is fast becoming a
curse because everything works against us. No proper accommodation, you
buy your own uniform, no timely promotion, even the people you risk your
life to protect are ready to lynch you for committing any slight error.
Too bad, my brother.”
One thing these policemen will not but emphasise is that their living
condition and welfare has a lot of impact on their performance, attitude
and behaviour.
Police barracks in other climes
Given that the police barracks across Nigeria are in bad shape and in a
serious state of disrepair, findings also showed that while some police
barracks suffer the same fate with Nigeria, some others are a lot
better, giving the policemen in such places a better lease of life.
In South Africa, for instance, it was gathered that a number of barracks
have been left unkempt, while some, like the Herdeshof, a 15-storey
building police barracks, which houses about 184 police officers and
their families, are said to be in good shape.
In Ghana, a non-commissioned officer is entitled to a two bedroom flat
while a commissioned staff is entitled to a single-quatered room. But,
sometime last month, the Mamprobi police barracks was heavily flooded,
leading to loss of valuables belonging to the policemen living in such
barracks. Some of the officers were quoted to have lamented the state of
the infrastructure in the barracks. This, to a large extent, shows the
way policemen are being treated in these countries.
Environment dictates human behaviour and conduct
Speaking on the effects of dilapidated barracks and other associated
problems on police residents, a professor of psychology, Toba
Elegbeleye, pointed out that the environment does not only affect human
behaviour and conduct, it also goes a long way to affect people’s input
in their work.
He explained that a society that treats its policemen like animals would
always get the feedback in the way they do their work, adding that when
people see those around them as being better placed, they tend to visit
their anger on those innocent individuals.
He said, “We normally analyse environment in four categories, which are
human, physical, psychological and contingency, and they all have direct
implication on human behaviour and conduct. So, the environment goes a
long way to affect people’s conduct and to give you the confidence
required to boost and enhance your input into your work.
“Also, when you operate in an environment that does not fit your
calling/status, you lose a lot of confidence and your own assessment of
self will be less than par, leading to having low self esteem. When that
sets in and you see other individuals around you living a better life,
you tend to visit your anger on innocent individuals, which is akin to
what we have.”
We are aware of the decay –Police
In his reaction, the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel
Ojukwu, admitted that police barracks across the country were in bad
shape, but noted that the police authorities were making efforts to
rehabilitate them and to also help policemen and women own their own
homes outside the barracks.
He said, “We are aware that there are issues about the decayed
infrastructure in police barracks nationwide and that some of them are
very old, but efforts are being made to rehabilitate as many of them as
possible.
“Besides, we are making efforts to help officers to own their own homes
outside the barracks. That is the major thrust of this administration.”
When asked about the time the rehabilitation of the barracks would
commence, he said, “There can’t be any time frame because everything has
to be tied to funds, and you know the nature of the economy now.
“The police do not act above the state of the economy of the country.
Therefore, as we get money and intervention from the members of the
public, things will change.”
Vanguard
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