A National Industrial Court in Abuja has ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to pay Police Constabularies about four years of salaries arrears owed them since 2021.

In a judgment on Wednesday, Justice Rakiya Haastrup directed that each of the Constabularies be paid N54,566 per month from January 2021 to May 2024.

Justice Haastrup gave the orders in a judgment on a suit filed and prosecuted for the Constabularies by their lawyer, Sebastian Hon (SAN).

Besides the salary, Justice Haastrup equally ordered that letters of employment and certificate of engagement be issued to the Constabularies having trained them, provided them with uniforms, and boots and lawfully deployed them to the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory FCT.

The plaintiffs, who were trained and engaged in community policing through intelligence gathering had through their lawyer, Sebastine Hon SAN sued the police for refusing to pay them their monthly stipends despite making them serve the nation diligently for the past four years.

Contrary to the claims of the Police that the services of the Constabularies were voluntary, the plaintiffs claimed and tendered documents showing that at the time of their engagement, the police had agreed to give them monthly stipends commensurate to the basic allowance of a Constable in the Nigeria police force.

The Constabularies alleged that the action of police in denying them the stipends was not only lawful but had put their lives in jeopardy as they could no longer meet with basic needs of life.

They therefore urged the court that having been lawfully engaged by police, they are entitled to the monthly stipends to enable them to perform their duties effectively and diligently.

Besides, they claimed that due to the hazardous nature of the jobs, seven of their members had already died.

In her judgment, Justice Rakiya Haastrup agreed with Senastine Hon SAN that the plaintiffs have established that there is a contractual agreement of employment relationship between them and the police.

The Judge held that based on the agreement, the plaintiffs are entitled to the monthly stipends for their job.

Justice Haastrup noted that the exact amount to be paid as stipends was not fixed by the police, but held that each of the plaintiffs was entitled to a basic allowance of N54,655 monthly pending when the IGP will fix their monthly allowance.

The judge also ordered the IGP to fix the amount due to each of the plaintiffs within two months of delivery of the judgment.

She further ordered that the Constabularies be issued with letters of appointment having trained them, equipped them, issued them with uniforms and identity cards and deployed them to the states of the federation and the FCT.

Responding to the judgment, and counsel to the Constabularies, Hon appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order the IGP to pay the Constabularies owing to the services they are rendering to the country. (The Nation)