End SARS: We buy bullets, magazines ourselves, stations underfunded – Police officer claims

A Superintendent of the Nigeria Police Force has made some damning revelations about the law enforcement agency.

The senior officer who wished to be anonymous disclosed that police personnel buy their bullets and magazines themselves.

Speaking exclusively with DAILY POST, the officer who works in one of the stations in Area F, Lagos State Police Command disclosed that the Force only gives officers guns without bullets and magazines.

The officer who previously worked with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, said officers are forced to source for bullets and magazines used in discharging their duties themselves.

He made the disclosures in response to the widespread condemnation of police officers across the country which occasioned the End SARS protests.

He said officers who “misbehaved are forced into such due to the porous nature of the system.”

He also disclosed that each police station across the country gets 7,000 to 15,000 as allocation despite the heavy funds released to the Force from the Federal government.

According to the officer: “We receive imprest of between seven to fifteen thousand for each police station, that is why the police are almost like beggars in all stations.

“Bullets and magazines especially all those tactical squads buy their bullets and magazines. The authorities just give them guns but the officers are the ones that will buy their bullets and magazines.

“These officers usually buy these bullets and magazines from other police establishments like stations, and Commands. We also get these items from NDA, military, and any place necessary.

“Each magazine goes between 2,000 and 5,000 while bullets are sold ranging from 5,500 to 7,500 for a pack of 25 rounds.

“Some armourers in other divisions, Commands and stations also sell these bullets and magazines to us.”

He also lamented that the welfare of police officers is very poor, stressing that they are not taken into consideration by the federal government.

The officer said a visit to police barracks was an indication of what an average officer goes through.

“The welfare of police officers is very poor, look at our barracks, look at our salaries very poor. Recently they announced increments in our salaries but the increment was only N3,500.

“I can’t really tell if the police hierarchy including the IG is aware of this predicament we are in,” he added.

The former SARS officer further lamented that Security Chiefs have failed in the area of insecurity in the country.

“Security Chiefs have failed though they tried to curb the issue of insecurity in the country.

“They are meant to be accountable but they have failed because the surge in insecurity is going higher,” he added.