There is currently disquiet among the junior officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service over the failure of the authorities to provide them with the service’s new uniform free as they did for their senior colleagues.
The affected officers have also raised the alarm over the decision of the authorities to make the wearing of the new uniform a condition for them to take part in a promotion examination scheduled for between Monday, July 1, 2024, and Saturday, July 6, 2024.
Some of the affected personnel who spoke with Online on Thursday noted that in uniformed organisations, the rank and files get uniform free “but the phase-out reverse is the case in NCoS.”
One of the officers who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said, “The NCoS changed its uniform in 2019, and since then, there has been a gradual phase-out of the old uniform.
It started with the Controller-General to the Chief Superintendents of Corrections free according to plan, and it stopped.
“Now, they are forcing other officers to get the uniform from the open market when the due allocation was made for free distribution of the uniform and other accoutrements.
“They are now using the upcoming promotion interview to activate this enforcement.”
Another affected officer simply said, “They always wait for promotion interview time to implement such draconian policies.
“The said uniform is not being given free as promised. It is not available in our command stores nationwide. Officers are resorting to self-help by buying in the open market. This is bad.”
Another officer noted that the service personnel have four different uniforms, lamenting that in the market, a uniform “costs N4,000 per trouser length, and we are using three trouser lengths for one complete uniform. So, we need a minimum of N12,000 to buy the materials for one complete set of uniforms.
He alleged that some people got the materials of the new uniforms “from the central store and gave them out to some others to sell for them.”
Our correspondent sighted a circular dated June 24, 2024, announcing the timetable for the third batch of 2024 promotion examination for officers on the ranks of Inspector/Superintendent to Assistant Controller of Corrections.
The circular with reference number GEN.24/S.21/T2/VOL.IV/632 was signed by the Assistant Controller-General of Corrections (HR), Dr Ado Sale.
Aside from other conditions stipulated for officers eligible to take part in the promotion examination, the circular added in paragraph 7 that “Eligible officers must appear in the new NCoS uniforms.”
