Friday, March 29, 2024

Mopol 20 police barracks’ infrastructure collapses

  • Flats littered with dirt
  • Toilets, drainage emit foul odour

The MOPOL 20 Police Barracks located in the heart of Oba Akinjobi Road, Ikeja, Lagos, is fast losing its decency due to its dilapidated state.

Aside from the fact that the bar rack has continually suffered infrastructural decay as a result of official neglect, the filthy nature of the environment forces visitors to close their nostrils while passing around any of the blocks of buildings as the drainages emit offensive odour.

The nauseating odour is only assuaged whenever it rains as the flood will naturally wash away some of the debris blocking the drainage.

Some of the police officers occupying the buildings are dirty. The way they live would always reflect in their uniform

The roofs of many of the buildings are leaking, just as foul odour envelops the atmosphere from the toilets as a result of broken pipes and caved-in pits.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the verandas of most of the mini flats within the high- rise buildings are usually littered with disused household materials, while the staircases have become dump sites.

“The corridor rails, in most cases have been converted into laundry lines on which washed clothes are spread out to dry. Undies and panty-hoses are common sight in open places. And to compound the matter, some of the seedy rooms have been converted to makeshift beer parlours and pepper soup joints,” said a source.

Enquiries at the Works Department of the Police in Ikeja revealed that millions of naira is budgeted annually for the maintenance of barracks throughout the country.

Although the budgeted money appears not to reflect the true position of things at the barracks, considering the present state of the buildings, a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed the occupiers of not adhering to simple rules of hygiene.

“Some of the police officers occupying the buildings are dirty. The way they live would always reflect in their uniform. The maintenance culture of a thing is everybody’s business. But then, we have Inspection Section that always see to the overall condition of our barracks. As a general rule, our barracks must always be spick and span. There are punishments for not keeping the barracks clean,” he said.

Some of the police officers occupying the buildings are dirty. The way they live would always reflect in their uniform

Some of the officers known to be living within the barrack, when approached, blamed the nearby POWA Market operators who they accused of spreading dirt that ultimately smeared the entire environment.

Sergeant Kudoh (not real name) said, “Blame the POWA Market people, who throw anything into the nearby gutters. They are fond of throwing rotten tomatoes, fish intestines and other rubbish into the gutters”.

However, the image maker of the Lagos State Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police Olarinde Famous-Cole, pleaded for time to find out the true condition in the barracks.

He agreed with our correspondent that government had been spending money to renovate barracks in the state, but added that the atmosphere was not as bad.

“Give me time to find out some of these observations. Rules and regulations abound for those living in police barracks. The rules and regulations are like checks and balances,” Famous Cole said.

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