When Folarin Falana, better known as Falz, said in his song – ‘This is Nigeria’ – that police stations across the country close by 6pm due to “security reasons”, many laughed but there is no doubt that his statement captured the sad state of things within the Nigeria police force.
Unbelievable as it might sound, officers at the police headquarters in Abuja often spend ample time in darkness during their working hours.
TheCable visited the police headquarters on Tuesday and for the roughly one hour thirty minutes the reporter spent at the Louis Edet Building (from about 2:23pm to 3:57pm), there was no sign of electricity – except for a few offices of top officers, including that of Ibrahim Idris, inspector-general of police.
Right from the reception hall just at the entrance of the seven-storey-building to the numerous offices, the picture remains the same: darkness and little or no room for ventilation in the offices.
In the course of a stroll around the building, some of the officers were seen on their desks, while others flooded the long corridors – probably in wait for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to “bring back our light”.
An officer who spoke to the reporter off the record explained how diesel is usually saved to “last longer”.
“It (lack of power supply) is not always like this, there are about four plants downstairs. I think the diesel is not much. Maybe they are saving it for those that will be on night duty. Sometimes they do save it,” he said.
A total of N332 billion was proposed for the police in the 2018 budget. This comprises 10 percent for overhead and capital costs, and 90 percent for personnel cost.
Below are some of the pictures taken during the visit:
A dark office. No one seen inside
Some visitors waiting to be attended to
At the entrance of the IGP’s office
One of the buildings at the force headquarters
As seen on the sixth floor
Toilets in bad state