THE Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has commenced the distribution of cheques to cover the insurance benefits of officers who lost their lives while in service, as well as those who suffered various forms of life-threatening injuries while on active duty.

The total sum of cheques presented to about 7,000 families of deceased officers and those injured or rendered disabled in the line of duty between 2012 and 2020 amounted to over N13 billion.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, Chief Superintendent Olumuyiwa Adejobi,  disclosed this in a statement he issued on Saturday, January 21, 2022.

The statement informed that the backlog payments were made possible through the IGP’s drive to ensure that police officers are adequately catered for in the event of injury or permanent disability due to the risks associated with policing, and that families of deceased police officers are adequately catered for in the absence of their breadwinners.

Baba, while reiterating the value of human life, emphasized that prompt payment of insurance and other benefits due to officers who had met with some misfortunes due to the risky nature of policing in our contemporary environment and unforeseen hazards of policing, would greatly boost their morale and ensure they put in their best in their service to the nation.

He also promised better welfare packages for members of the police family either serving, retired, or slain in the line of duty, so as to cement the already existing esprit de corps among the components of the police family.