The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar has said that the police management team’s decision to decentralise pension and insurance payment was informed by the need to improve on the welfare of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force.
Abubakar lamented that police officers and families of deceased officers go through untold hardship regarding accommodation when they come to Abuja for their pension and insurance claims.
The police IG? speaking during the commissioning of the Force Insurance Transit Camp/Auditorium, yesterday at the Force Headquarters, said that beginning from January, cheques for affected persons have been directed to zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) thereby giving more powers to officers at the zonal and command levels.
He said, “If a policeman applies for his insurance claims and he is in Katsina State we send the cheque directly to him. If there is a bank in Daura he can cash it there. Previously they had to travel all the way to Abuja to collect sometimes N50,000 and you know what that means.”
He explained that the decentralisation of pension and insurance as well as the construction and furnishing of the transit camp form part of the police reform programme.