- Omoyele Sowore, advocates for increased salaries for lower-ranking police officers in Nigeria.
- Sowore highlighted the significant pay gap between lawmakers and police officers during an interview on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief.”
- He pointed out that while senators earn approximately ₦30 million monthly, police officers should earn at least ₦500,000 for their role in protecting these high-ranking officials.
Human rights activist and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has called for a major salary upgrade for lower-ranking officers in the Nigeria Police Force.
During his appearance on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief” on Wednesday, Sowore raised concerns about the stark pay disparity between lawmakers and the police. He questioned why officers responsible for protecting high-ranking politicians, like senators who take home ₦30 million monthly, do not earn at least ₦500,000.
Sowore said, “We’re concerned about the people who are really doing the work, and it is time for us to be on their side to ensure that they are well paid, well remunerated, and when they are no longer in service, they don’t become paupers.”
He emphasized the income imbalance, stating, “I mentioned earlier that an average senator takes home ₦30 million per month, but the senator can’t leave home except they are accompanied by the police.”
“So, why is it that senators are taking home ₦30 million per month, but the policeman cannot earn ₦500,000 per month?” he asked, adding, “What is ₦500,000 really? Maybe about $300 a month; that is what some people earn in a day somewhere else, not in Nigeria.”
Sowore also expressed frustration with the police pension system. He pointed out that, “there is a police pension limited, the company that manages their pension.” According to him, “The pension company, an average worker there makes about a million per month, that’s the least that they make, and the people whose pension they are managing are dying of poverty.”
He went on to describe the financial hardship faced by police personnel: “How do you serve a country for 35 years and your monthly salary is, highest, ₦57,000, maybe ₦140,000, depending on your rank?”
“How do you survive in a country where the inflation rate is at 24 per cent, where you have to pay the school fees of your children, and where you have to treat your children if they are sick?”
Sowore spoke in support of the upcoming July 21 protest by aggrieved police officers over poor salaries, describing it as a necessary action by security agents prepared to strike.
He called on Nigerians especially celebrities who benefit from police escorts to back the movement. “I know that the ones that accompany celebrities get better pay, they get incentives, but at the end of the day, it’s important that you all step out for the police,” he urged.
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