On the way to an ECOWAS meeting in the Ivory Coast,
President Goodluck
Jonathan's plane was
diverted to Lagos where he
made a surprise visit to the
police college in Ikeja. Known for his dynamic nature, President Goodluck
Jonathan took his top aides
and the police authorities
unawares by making an
unscheduled visit to the
college. It was revealed that the
college was rented out to host
a private wedding, which is
illegal. The President has demanded
that the top authorities of the
Police explain these actions to
which they had no sufficient
answers. President Jonathan also
embarked on an immediate
inspection of the college,
starting with the student
hostels where he discovered
dilapidated conditions including no beds, drainages
and toilets in the rooms. Initial Reports.. Police College Ikeja's Dormitories Worse than Prison Cells - Report New recruits of the Nigerian
Police Force, who are being
trained at the police College,
Ikeja, have complained about
the dilapidated condition of
the college. Some of the trainees told newsmen that
the facilities at the college
were so bad that the place
was not fit for human
habitation. The trainees, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, complained of lack
of water, irregular electricity
supply, poor toilet facilities
and lack of bedding. "The dormitory is not
habitable as some of the
windows are broken down.
There is no bed and mattress
to sleep on. Some trainees
bought mattresses or mats to sleep on." "Those who cannot afford
mattresses and mats looked
for big cartons and spread
them on the floor to sleep on,
'' a trainee told newsmen. Another trainee said that they
often queued to use the toilets
as some of the facilities were
blocked due to overfilled
septic tanks. "We don't have water to
freshen up after a hot day's
training. We hardly have up to
one hour electricity a day since
we arrived." "We are appealing to the
police authorities to improve
on the facilities in this school
before we all fall sick,'' the
trainee said. It was also gathered from the
trainees that the food being
served, particularly beans,
were not well cooked, while
some others claimed they
were being asked for money before being treated at the
college's clinic. When contacted, the Lagos
State Commissioner of Police
and Commandant of the
College, Alhaji Abdullahi
Magaji, confirmed its poor
condition, adding, however, that the Inspector General of
Police (IGP) had approved the
supply of beds, mattresses, as
well as the rehabilitation of
the hostels. "The facilities have been over
stretched because we are
accommodating more than
what the college can take. We
now accommodate 4,000
trainees and 5,000 trainees, as against the 3,500 the college
was built to accommodate." "Also, some of the trainees
used newspapers and not
tissue paper for toilet,
resulting in blockage. We are
evacuating the filled-up septic
tanks," Magaji said. He attributed the water
problem in the college to the
incessant power failure which
has affected the pumping of
water, stressing that constant
electricity supply would improve the situation.

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