SECURITY agencies in states in the Niger Delta are being overwhelmed by the deluge of requests for special protection from politicians and other wealthy persons following the worsening security situation in the area.
Investigations by SUNDAY PUNCH showed that each of the six state police commands in the South-South received a minimum of 100 requests every day since January this year.
Another security agency facing a similar pressure because of the requests is the Joint Military Task Force, codenamed Operation Restore Hope.
The Police and the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, have been overwhelmed by the demands for private protection by wealthy individuals top government official and politicians.
Also, multi national oil and service companies are scrambling for protection by the police and the troops of JTF.
Findings by Sunday Punch showed that the rising spate of kidnapping of oil workers and politicians as well as their relations necessitated the increasing demands for private protection.
It was learnt that service delivery to ordinary citizens by the security agencies in the region has been hampered by the effort to satisfy the wealthy individuals and governments� big shots.
An applicant pays as much as N500,000 to facilitate the approval of his application by the authorities of the security agencies in the region.
This is besides the monthly allowances being paid to top officials of the security agencies, as well as policemen and soldiers eventually assigned to a successful applicant.
It was gathered that an official at the zonal and command level of the police gets about N50,000 per policeman while a paltry sum of N15,000 is paid to a riot policeman deployed in the service of the moneybag.
The Assistant Inspector-Generals of Police in Benin and Port Harcourt are also said to be under severe pressure by panic-gripped politicians and businessmen, who troop to their offices daily to obtain approval for riot policemen to keep vigil over their families and business interests.
Findings further revealed that desperation for private security protection is prevalent in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States , regarded as the hotbeds of the violent agitation in the Niger Delta region.
The quest for personal security by politicians and businessmen in the region has become a lucrative business for some police officers and authorities of the JTF.
Investigations revealed that the services of the police and troops of JTF were readily available to the highest bidders.
A reliable police source told our correspondent that applicants for police escorts usually routed their applications either through the command headquarters in the states or the zonal commands in Benin, the Edo State capital or Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.
The troops of JTF are mostly deployed in strategic oil installations and major governments� establishments after due approval by the Group Commanders of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and State Security Service in the security agency.
A police source said, �I can tell you that each of the police commands in the Niger Delta receives no fewer than 100 applications for police protection daily. The Commissioner of Police in the command handles the deals with the businessmen and politicians while the AIG handles the deals at the zonal levels.
�Our superiors are making a lot of money from the deals as anybody seeking police protection is made to pay through his nose. It is a big business for the officers. People, who want police protection, are made to pay some money to the AIGs, CPs. But our boys still struggled for posting to these moneybags and politicians despite the fact that they received a meager allowance of N15,000 monthly.
�The AIGs and CPs benefit seriously as they make good money from the deals. I can recall that a businessman, who applied for three riot policemen at the zonal level recently, coughed out N700,000 to the authorities at the zone before his application sailed through.
�At present, we don�t have enough personnel at our stations in the region because many of our men have been deployed in the services of wealthy people and governments� functionaries in contravention of the order of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, barring such action. That is why you don�t find enough policemen at the police stations in the region to take care of the interest of the ordinary citizens.�
It was, however, gathered that politicians, who could not secure the services of either policemen or soldiers, hired thugs to keep criminals, especially kidnappers, at bay.
Similarly, top government officials in the region were reported to have restricted the movement of members of their families following the deteriorating security situation in the crisis-torn area.
Although the AIG in charge of Zone 5, Benin City, Mr. Udom Ekpoudom, acknowledged the increasing demand for police protection by well-to-do- persons in the region, he said many of such applications were rejected because they were not in conformity with the order of Okiro.
Ekpoudum denied that the police were making brisk business from the avalanche of applications for private guard by panic-stricken residents of the region, adding that the authorities of the police always acted in the public interests.
Ekpoudom, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, added, �The IG has warned us that we should not give police to just anybody because he or she has money and we are operating with the guideline in treating the applications for police protection.
�We don�t have enough policemen to guard Nigerians, that is why we cannot give policemen to money bags. We have rejected many applications and we have withdrawn policemen from some moneybags not covered by the order of the IG. The masses would be left at the mercy of the miscreants if we give policemen to only rich men in the society.�