The two police officers dismissed by the Oyo state police command after a video of them begging for money from a Dutch tourist on tour in African countries have blamed the government for their predicaments.
The State Police Commissioner, Adebola Hamzat, in December 2023, ordered the immediate dismissal of the two members of the special constabulary working with the state command over allegations of extortion.
The affected officers are Jimoh Lukman and Kareem Fatai.
The personnel were paraded at the Oyo State Police Command, Eleyele, Ibadan, on Wednesday, where their dismissal was announced.
In a statement made available to journalists, CP Hamzat said the dismissal of the two constables was in response to a recommendation for an orderly room investigation.
However, in a video making the rounds online, the dismissed officers said the government has never paid them any remuneration or salary since they joined the force for the past three years.
Speaking in a mixture of English and Yoruba languages, the ex-police officers said they were also not paid after their dismissal, adding that begging for money along the road was their means of survival.
Part of their words read, “I served for three years and three months. They did not give us any salary. They never gave us anything. Even after the dismissal, we were not paid at all. It is when we go to the roadside that we get money from what people give us. This is what we share and use to feed ourselves, our children and our wives.”
