80% of FCT policemen lack communication gadgets –Investigation
Four out of every five policemen in the Federal Capital Territory do not have a walkie-talkie or other means of communicating with the control room of the FCT Police Command during emergencies, investigations by The PUNCH have shown.

Checks by our correspondent also indicates that most police personnel on active duty do not wear bullet-proof vests despite the dangers they are daily exposed to in the course of their engagements with law breakers.

Yet, the Federal Government appropriated N57 bn for the police reform programme between 2011 and 2013. The impact of the reform is yet to be felt as the Force is still grappling with numerous inadequacies, including lack of enough accommodation, lack of communication facilities and operational vehicles, among others.

Although the Ministry of Police Affairs claimed that police formations and commands across the country enjoyed full self-accounting status, checks revealed that the formations either hardly received budgetary allocations or what they received was grossly inadequate to meet their needs.

A senior ministry official, who did not want his name in print, claimed that budgetary allocations for Police Formations and Commands were released directly to the Force Headquarters by the Ministry of Finance.

The source, who absolved the ministry of any blame in the poor kitting of policemen, claimed that the authority for the distribution, approval and disbursements of all appropriations for the Police lied with the IG, who is the Accounting Officer of the Nigeria Police Force.

He said, “The ministry does not tamper with approvals and disbursements of police budgetary allocations and only carries out its supervisory roles of ensuring that all financial regulations and statutory due-processes are followed in the award and execution of contracts and fund allocations.

“The IG as the Accounting Officer superintends the FHQ accounts while the Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and the Commissioners of Police, who head police formations and commands, act as the vote controllers or spending officers for police budgetary allocations.”

According to him, the budget section of the IG’s office handles all budgetary matters of the police, including allocation of funds and distribution to vote heads and sub-heads.

He added that capital budget allocation, distribution and utilisation were the sole responsibility of the Force headquarters, where approvals and contract awards are carried out in line with extant rules on thresholds (approval limits).

He said that payments were processed at the FHQ accounts after due approvals by the IG, who he said issued fund allocation instructions on overhead and personnel costs, which are decentralised to formations and commands through the budget section of his office.

The ministry official explained that the approval limits for FHQ Tenders Boardweare N50m for Goods; N250m for Works; and N50m for Non-Consultant and Consultant Services, stressing that these thresholds were in line with SGF Circular no. SGF/OP/1/S.3/VIII/57 of March 11, 2009.

It was learnt that all capital and recurrent expenditures carried out by the ministry directly were interventions under the reform programme, which is domiciled in the ministry and these are done on advice and requests from the FHQ.

But the Senate, which was piqued by the poor funding of the police and their lack of essential facilities, had on November 12, 2013 directed its Committee on Police Affairs to investigate the N135bn so far released by the Federal Government to carry out a comprehensive reform in the Nigerian Police Force between 2010 and 2013.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, could not be reached for comments on Monday as his mobile phone was not reachable.

Source:http://www.punchng.com/news/80-of-fct-policemen-lack-communication-gadgets-investigation/

What do they need communication gadget for ?

OgidiBoy: What do they need communication gadget for ?

WOW...you live in America right...what do police use communication gadgets for in America, even if you don't know it.. Google is your friend..i am very tempted to call you ode, but i am not going to
It's highlighted in the topic, just for you....you are very welcome.

GeneralJ:
WOW...you live in America right...what do police use communication gadgets for in America, even if you don't know Google is your friend..i am very tempted to call you ode, but i am not going to

Let me help u! He's an ODE

It's so sad some ppl didn't see the sarcasm in my post. Oh well

Where in Nigeria do policemen or any security personel for that matter, have communication gadgets?
Millitary men at check points only have their own personal phone as their communication gadget!
Nobody jokes with security communications in a normal society!