The management of the Nigeria Police Force has doled out cheques worth about N119 million to the families of officers and men of the Force, who were killed or deformed on the line of duties.
The cheques, which were personally handed over to the some of the beneficiaries yesterday at the Nigeria Police Force headquarters by the Inspector General of Police, ranges from N500, 000.00 to N3 million.
Among the 117 beneficiaries, about ten personally received their cheques from the acting Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim Idris and they include John Itodo, Elijah Kenneth, Goodluck Moses, Jibrin Mohammed, Wisdom Sunday, Michael Sunday, among others.
The Nigeria Police, while commiserating with the affected families, noted that there is no amount of money that could bring back the dead officers and this funds was to help in settling some of the most important needs, while preparations are made for other benefits.
Speaking further on the lingering issues of gratuity and pensions for dead or retired police officers, which are hardly paid to beneficiaries, IGP Idris said he is aware of such issues, however, the police is working to sort it out.
The Police explained that since the pension of the officers and men of the Force is managed by a dedicated agency, it takes a little time to harness the benefit of any dead or retired officer and hence, the delay.
The police management however, gave the assurance that whenever the police pension fund managers concludes their duties on any dead or retired officers, the gratuity and pension will be paid to the beneficiaries.
LEADERSHIP investigation shows that about 359 policemen were killed on duty between January, 2014 and April, 2016; while 272 policemen had sustained various degrees of injuries within the same period.
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