Shoe Shiners, Bag Carriers & Errand Boys: How Nigerian VIPs Use Police Officers as Domestic Servants

 

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. Nowadays, it is also worth a thousand online shares and memes.

In a picture that went viral last December, the wife of the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, was seen holding her hands in reverence during a Muslim prayer session. She was flanked by a man and three women, including her paramilitary orderly.

But it was not her supplication that drew the most attraction. It was her orderly, a female officer who was holding the First Lady’s designer handbag that became the talk of the town.

Across Nigeria, it is common sight to see orderlies or security escorts carrying the handbags or umbrellas of those they are supposed to protect.

The trend was further highlighted recently when a video of a similar incident went viral. In the 30-second video, which went viral about three weeks ago, Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Mr. Abdulrahman Dambazau, seated and wearing a white kaftan, appeared as if he couldn’t be bothered as his security escort, alleged to be an officer of the Department of State Service, cleaned his shoes with seeming gusto at an event which held at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Academy in Abuja last December.

 

While the orderly was cleaning Dambazau’s shoes, his service pistol was protruding loosely from under his jacket. Similarly, last year, the photo of a male police orderly carrying the handbag of a woman outside the premises a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, surfaced online.

The military is not exempted from this practice. In March last year, ex-beauty queen, Dabota Lawson-Aku, was seen with her male military escort carrying one of her bags as she strolled regally on her arrival in Abia State.

 

Shoe shiners, bag carriers, errand boys

Stooping so low for their principals might have become a norm for police or paramilitary officers attached to Nigeria’s rich, who see escorts as a status symbol.

Sergeant Joshua (not real name) was recruited into the Nigeria Police Force 18 years ago. Although he had a diploma certificate, he had dropped out of the university due to lack of funds.

He knew the risks involved in police work. However, Joshua got more than he bargained for, not in the line of duty fighting crime, but as a police orderly who provides security for some of Nigeria’s civilian Very Important Personalities, including an influential senator.

‘VIP’ is a common term used to describe notable figures. In Nigeria, they include local government or council chairmen, traditional rulers, state governors, the president, politicians, senior army, police and paramilitary officers, wealthy, influential personalities across different sectors, celebrities, and so on.

Joshua, a father of three, recalled an incident: “The senator treated me like a slave. But then, even a slave is entitled to certain rights and privileges, is it a crime to give one’s service to one’s fatherland?”

He further said, “Sometimes when one is hungry and needs to get some food, it is impossible to do so, even with two orderlies present. He would shout at me, and ask why I must go out without his permission.

“They send us on errands with their wives, children or girlfriends, to buy things from eateries. If you say no, it becomes a problem and they threaten to report you to your superior officers, they shout at you and make you look stupid before others. I feel hurt each time such happens. One is not happy being treated that way and one loses morale. At times, the VIP would request for one’s withdrawal.”

Joshua is not alone in the pit of despair. In a fit of rage, one orderly told our correspondent how he had once almost turned his firearm at his boss for a series of maltreatment.

Another officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told a correspondent that some influential Nigerians they protect treat them badly because they believe they are not educated or smart enough.

“Usually, we are trained to give security coverage to VIPs, but some of them use insulting language to address us. As orderlies, we don’t get extra money, just our salary, unless the VIP is generous. So, although one is posted to the VIP by one’s superiors he (VIP) sees you as his direct employee. ”

For some, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a VIP to give them any sort of allowance. One of the orderlies attached to a traditional chief said some of them who are seconded to local government or council chairmen sometimes got N500 or N1,000 as allowance only when they complained of hunger.

“If I had another option, I won’t be a police orderly because there is nothing special about it. They have driven my children from school because I can’t pay their fees and I want to sell my television to raise money,” another orderly, who gets extra income from running a small beer shop, told SUNDAY PUNCH.

Another corporal, who did not want to be named, said, “Sometimes they simply ignore our greetings to let us know that we were not in the same class with them. There was a woman that asked some of my colleagues to regularly pack bunch of bananas from her vehicle to the house. When he refused, the woman called her husband, who now called our bosses.

“We wash their clothes and cars; carry their handbags, and engage in all forms of domestic chores.”

An average officer of the Nigeria Police is one of the poorest paid among officials of other security agencies in the country. A police orderly told a correspondent that the risks sometimes involved was not worth the sacrifice or denigration.

“Being a uniformed person, one does not know one’s enemy or that of the VIP, but they know one. Some of my friends have lost their lives trying to protect VIPs. The assailants sometimes could be better armed and in the course of an attack, one must do everything to protect the VIP, because that is what you are paid for. In doing that, the orderly may lose his life, be severely injured or maimed.”

Juicy perks

An orderly, who gave his name as Corporal Jonas, however noted that some of his colleagues go as far as lobbying to get juicy postings to some VIPs, but such opportunities are rare.

“Some (VIPs) don’t pay while some are generous. One of my friends, who worked with a civilian VIP, is doing well. So, it depends on the relationship. It is opportunity and luck. For me, I am still praying to get that kind of job.”

He told a correspondent how a constable, who was promoted to a corporal and transferred to another location, begged to remain at his ‘duty post’ as an escort to a particular ‘big man.’

Another orderly told a correspondent that he was paid less than N50,000 as a police corporal, and that the extras he got as an orderly helps him take care of his family. “Some VIP can pay between N20,000 and N50,000, depending on how one behaves. Again, some of us like to do ‘eye service,’ to get favours from our VIP bosses.” he said.

A security expert, Mr. Ona Ekhomu, noted that economic benefits may be tied to the reasons why officers attached as security details go as far as doing menial duties for their bosses.

He explained, “When a police officer gets such a job, because they are not well paid, it is a bonanza for them. They get special accommodation, go to big parties and eat special food with their bosses; they fly on planes with them, sometimes on first class or business class—something they may never have aspired to.”

Joshua told a correspondent of a commissioner in one of the states in the oil-rich Niger Delta who bought cars for each of the four policemen attached to him. “Not all VIPs are bad. Some have built houses for their police escorts, but there are some that are extremely bad,” he noted.

Jonas added, “Those attached to oil companies are doing well and they now drive big cars. I would be very happy if I can get that kind of attachment. Our remuneration is very poor. In the North, where I served, most of my colleagues would spend twice their salaries buying things on credit before their salaries would be paid. When their wives gave birth or their children are hospitalised, they have no money to pay for their hospital bills. Some go to the extent of robbery or suicide. Last month, a colleague committed suicide because he could not cope.”

According to another orderly, while an officer basically survives on a meagre salary of between N39,000 and N50,000 monthly, depending on the rank— Constable, Corporal or Sergeant— some VIPs usually paid them monthly for their services.

But it comes with a catch. He said, “If you are posted from your station to a VIP, the money that is meant for you will be sent there; then maybe 60 or 70 per cent goes to your superiors, while the rest comes to you the orderly; whereas, it is the orderly that is doing all the work and taking all the risks; which is not fair.

“When I worked as an orderly for a politician (name withheld), I was supposed to get N100,000 per month, but no feeding, nothing else. But at the end of the month, I only got only N40, 000; N60, 000 went to the station. In another instance, I got about N38,000. At another time, I was paid N75,000 per month, but then, I got less than half of that from my superiors. One can’t complain. When one does, the ogas would say, ‘Abuja was aware and also getting some percentages.’”

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, Mrs. Olabisi Kolawole, told a reporter that any police officer worth his salt would face his professional and constitutional duties of protecting citizens, and not doing domestic work for them.

On the allegation that some superior officers short-changed orderlies, the Force PRO said, “If they (orderlies) are entitled to any amount, I think they would give it to them. The VIPs are not supposed to pay them; they are supposed to protect the VIPs. But let’s get one thing clear, there is an allowance that you pay the officers when you request for their services to protect your company. That is the one I know. But I don’t know about the one of civilian VIPs paying them, and whether their superiors are taking from their money or not, I don’t know about that.

“They should know their rights, when to say yes and when to say no. Aside from that, the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has directed that no police officer should carry any bag or luggage for any VIP. That is not their responsibility. They should face their job, carry their arms and protect the VIP. The job terms of references are there. The IGP has continuously warned officers not to do that again, and they have asked the VIPs to stop using police officers. He recently directed that they should be monitored. Any officer found going outside his responsibility should be handled and reported. The Police continue to warn and advise both the officers and the VIPs to desist from that act. The VIPs can get their domestic aides. The police officers should respect their profession.”

A former Director of the State Security Services, Mr. Mike Ejiofor, emphasised that security details should not carry out domestic jobs for their principals.

 

 

-Arukaino Umukoro for Sunday Punch.