Former Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro has warned that economic hardship and poor welfare conditions are undermining the effectiveness and morale of officers in the Nigeria Police Force.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Monday, Okiro said police officers are struggling to survive due to rising costs of living and years of neglect of policing infrastructure and personnel welfare.
He stated that “the police have been so neglected, no equipment, no power, no infrastructure, no welfare. That’s what I see now.”
Okiro applauded recent decisions by President Bola Tinubu to improve manpower within the force, including the recruitment of thousands of new officers.
He said “the order to recruit more police officers, that’s a very good thing.”
He added that strengthening manpower is necessary as “the Nigerian population is growing every day” and the police must keep pace.
The former police chief also stressed that recruitment alone is not sufficient without proper remuneration and benefits.
According to him, “the welfare is very important for any staff to work” and “already the morale is down.”
Okiro said the rising cost of living is hitting police officers harder because their salaries remain stagnant and insufficient.
He stated that “the price of things are high. The police is not able to market. They have to go to market too.”
He further emphasised that “salary is not only police, everywhere, we need to give fresher salary, because we have limited time.”
On the issue of training and modern policing capability, Okiro argued that continuous skill development is essential to meet the security challenges of a changing society.
“Training and retraining is very, very important,” he said.
“The police will be trained and retrained. We fall in line with modern methods of policing. We fall in line with modern methods of crime.”
He said technology-based policing must improve rapidly, noting that “you have technology going on now. Cyber capability coming up.”
Okiro also highlighted the need to restore decent living conditions for officers, criticising the decision taken in previous years to dispose of police barracks and residential facilities which has worsened welfare conditions.
Looking at internal discipline, he described human behaviour as a factor in enforcing directives, especially the order to withdraw officers from VIP protection.
He remarked that “naturally, human beings are disobedient. We are bullied to it. That is why we have police force.”
He added that a task force is needed to ensure compliance because “there will be somebody to find out to ensure that there is nothing given by the IG that they comply with.”
Okiro insisted that welfare improvements must be prioritised if Nigeria expects the police to deliver effective security.
He warned that unless officers are paid well and treated fairly, their morale will continue to drop while citizens remain vulnerable to insecurity.
The former IGP urged the government to move swiftly from announcements to action, ensuring that enhanced welfare translates into a stronger and more reliable police force across the country.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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