Birnin Kebbi: Where policemen live in Zinc shelters

Prior to the creation of Kebbi State on August 27, 1991, the Birnin Kebbi police barracks was only housing policemen deployed from Sokoto state to serve the Birnin Kebbi divisional police station. A building at the entrance of the barracks housed the divisional police station, while the remaining building, which was built by the Native […]

Prior to the creation of Kebbi State on August 27, 1991, the Birnin Kebbi police barracks was only housing policemen deployed from Sokoto state to serve the Birnin Kebbi divisional police station. A building at the entrance of the barracks housed the divisional police station, while the remaining building, which was built by the Native Authority (NA) in the 1940s, were used as barracks.

The policemen deployed from Sokoto State police headquarters to serve in the division were less than 100. So, they comfortably lived in the brick houses built in the colonial era by the Native Authority for their police. Sunday Trust gathered that the brick houses of the NA were built to accommodate at most 50 persons.

When Kebbi State was created in 1991 out of the old Sokoto State, more policemen were deployed to the state and the barracks housed them while the building at the entrance became the state police headquarters. The first police commissioner to head Kebbi state police command was Muhammadu Gulma, who served there between 1991 to 1993.

It was gathered that eleven police commissioners served at the Kebbi State police command while it was at the former Birnin Kebbi police divisional station. The command headquarters was later moved to Gwadangaji in the outskirts of the state capital. The relocation was done during the era of Alhaji Sale A. Haliru in 2005, as police commissioner of the state.

As the state police headquarters was moved out of the area, the place now housed the Birnin Kebbi police divisional station. Unlike before, when the station was serving the whole state, now it is only serving the people of Birnin Kebbi, the state capital. However, the barracks inside the division remains the only police barracks in the whole 21 local government areas of Kebbi State.

The barracks which was housing 50 policemen before the creation of Kebbi State is now serving there policemen in the whole land of equity, Kebbi State. Over 1,000 policemen are residing in the now. From the outside, the barracks looks clean as the fence of the front side covers the oddity in it.

Policemen, in their quest for accommodation in the barracks, built houses with ordinary zinc. Now, in the barracks, zinc houses are everywhere. The policemen call it ‘batchers’ quarters. They said they are comfortably living in zinc houses. Come rain, come sun or wind, the policemen reside in their Zinc houses.

While few of the officers in the barracks are staying in the brick huts built by the Native Authority, others are living in the batchers. Aside from serving policemen, many retired policemen, their children and relatives are still living there.

Even in this present security challenge facing the country, the barracks has no fence. From many angles, you can gain entrance into the barracks. At night, 10 policemen are deployed to guide the open side. At the centre of the batchers ‘quarters’, a refuse dump constitutes an eyesore. Whenever wind blew, a pungent odour from it would contaminate the air. Nobody cares.

A senior police officer told Sunday Trust that various commissioners deployed to the state ignored the deplorable condition of the barracks.

“When the present Commissioner was touring police formations in the state he was in the barracks. He was furious when he saw zinc houses everywhere. When he got to the refuse dump that has been this way for years, he ordered officers and men in the batcher quarters to vacate,” he said.

Another policeman told Sunday Trust that, worried by the condition of the barracks, the police commissioner gave the residents a week quit notice. On 10th of this month, the wives of policemen in the barracks staged a peaceful protest to the police headquarters.

“They pleaded with the police commissioner to extend the quit notice to enable their husbands secure accommodation outside the barracks. At the end of the day, the police commissioner gave them September 29, 2012 to leave the place,” a serving DSP told Sunday Trust.

Speaking to Sunday Trust, a female police corporal said, “Nobody would want to live here, but because there is no accommodation, I have to squeeze myself here. I have been living here since I was served a quit notice by my landlord. I’m squatting with a freind here. I don’t have money to pay for all the places they are showing me outside the barrack.”

A police Sergeant resident in the zinc house said he moved into the house when he was transferred from Kogi State to the state. He said he joined the Nigeria Police in 1992 as a police constable.

“When I was transferred from Kogi State to the 36 Police Mobile Force (PMF) unit, a police officer, who had been serving in the Kebbi command for years, sold this house to me at N30,000 and I repaired it with N8,000. He assured me that nobody would disturb me. I’m surprised that less than a month after I parked in, the police authorities are sending us out. Where will I take my family to? he queried.

While reiterating his readiness to leave the house, he urged the police commissioner to give them more time to secure accommodation in the town.

A wife of a serving police officer resident in the barracks, said, “I will not speak to you even if you will not include my names because when we went to the headquarters to appeal to the authorities, we were asked to write down the names of our husbands, and I don’t want my husband to be sacked.”

On his part, an Inspector who said he has been residing in the zinc houses for years, said he was among those who cleared the area and erected the zinc houses when they could not secure accommodation elsewhere.

When contacted the Kebbi State, police commissioner, Mr Tonye E. Ebitibituwa, said he gave the residents of batchers quarters quit notices because of the deplorable condition they are living in.

“We have only one barracks and the situation there is appalling. There is an urgent need to make that place conducive in order to boost the morale of our men. The barracks needs to be fenced. You know the huts there were inherited from the colonial era. And our men erected the batchers to hide themselves during rain. We are going to bring sanity to the barrack by removing the structures,” he said

While appealing to the state government to come to their aid in building the barrack, he appealed to landlords to assist by accommodating their men and should not give them stringent conditions.

“We are not saying the landlords should give them their houses free. No, what we are saying is that they should give them at affordable rates. We will soon demolish the zinc houses. Please give them houses at affordable rents because policemen are good people who are out to serve the public,” he said.

While supporting the decision of the Police Commissioner to demolish the structures, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Birnin Kebbi Division, SP Sani Zubairu, said with the deplorable condition of the place, barracks rules cannot be applied.

“Policemen are used to protect the place at nights because there is no fence at the backside. Our men are stationed there to check the influx of people at night, which poses serious security challenge to us. We have raided there twice and our discovery was appalling,” he said.