Protests At Police College As Officer Dies During Training

The Acting Inspector General of Police, Abba Suleiman’s wish to give the force a good image suffered a setback some days ago when an ugly trend amongst the rank and file of the force reared its ugly head again leading to the death of an officer.
Paper Mache gathered that a section of Junior Officers were undergoing the mandatory promotional course at the Police College in Ikeja, Lagos when an officer, Sergeant Mustapha Olalekan slumped and died on the parade ground.
It was revealed that the incident ignited protests from the colleagues of the deceased who felt there was no adequate provision to prevent such occurrence during the practice.
Some of these officers who spoke with Paper Mache under the condition of anonymity disclosed that they have camped at the college for two weeks without the payment of their course allowance which was said to have been paid by the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
The officers stated that they endured 6-hours rigorous daily field exercise in the rain and the sun and that consideration was not given to their female counterparts who are mainly married women and mothers.
The daily drilling was said to have been without health provision as there was no ambulance to convey any injured officer to the hospital and it was revealed that a number of officers fainted during the exercise which later sparked off the protest after the death of Sergeant Lekan Mustapha.
The course masters who are mostly superior officers were said to be in the habit of demanding bribes from the junior officers to pass and ease them from the daily stress that comes with the exercise.
The protest was said to have been muffled by the threat of dismissal on any officer caught doing so.
While many of the officers dread the outcome of what the protest might be the family of the deceased officer who was said to have carried out a post mortem that showed that the officer died from fatigue caused by the training have threatened to seek legal action against the Nigerian Police.