Cycling
The officers exposed that the commandant, who was published to the Oyo State Command in January 2024, has actually institutionalised a culture of forced contributions, with officers taxed in between N1000 and N50,000 depending upon their beat’s viewed abundance.
Some workers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo State Command, have actually implicated the State Commandant, Augustine Padonu, of systemic extortion and enforcing obligatory monetary levies on officers released throughout numerous beats in the state.
Whistleblowers within the command exposed to SaharaReporters that the extortions are camouflaged as necessary contributions for Commandant Padonu’s individual birthday events and yearly church harvest at his church in Badagry, Lagos State.
According to serving officers who spoke on the condition of privacy for worry of victimisation, the commandant carries out the extortion plan through a designated “Beat Coordinator,” Superintendent of Corps (SC) Adeeyo Oluremi Babatunde, widely called “The Machinery.”
The officers exposed that the commandant, who was published to the Oyo State Command in January 2024, has actually institutionalised a culture of forced contributions, with officers taxed in between N1000 and N50,000 depending upon their beat’s viewed abundance.
Files gotten by SaharaReporters, consisting of WhatsApp messages from a platform developed by the “Beat Coordinator” and contribution lists, expose how the plan runs under the guise of “voluntary” contributions for the commandant’s individual occasions.
At the centre of the supposed extortion is Superintendent of Corps (SC) Adeeyo Oluremi Babatunde, who was designated “Beat Coordinator” by Commandant Padonu. Babatunde, a Level 11 officer, apparently works as the primary avenue for gathering the required contributions from beat officers.
According to the whistleblower, Babatunde, collaborates all beats throughout Oyo State and makes sure compliance with the contribution needs.
“The name of the Beat Coordinator is SC Adeeyo Oluremi Babatunde. He is holding a unit which we call Beat Coordinator for all our beats out there. He’s coordinating it,” the source stated.
The whistleblower described that the plan has actually been running considering that Commandant Padonu presumed workplace, with contributions required for the commandant’s birthday and the church harvest of his white garment church in Badagry, Lagos State.
“He’s a white garment church attendant, and year in, year out, this has been occurring: all manner of contributions, all manner of extortion from we that are on the field. As I’m speaking with you, I’m on the field,” the officer stated.
SaharaReporters got a WhatsApp message published on a platform developed by SC Adeeyo Oluremi Babatunde, entitled “CONTRIBUTION FOR COMMANDANTS CHURCH HARVEST AND COMMANDANT BIRTHDAY,” which notes the names of 58 officers and their particular contributions, amounting to N616,000.
The contributions, paid into a Palmpay account (7036011778) signed up to ADEEYO OLUREMI, varied from N1,000 to N50,000, with beat areas such as Aklad, Pan Africa, Begonia Oyo, Carlton Gate, IBEDC, and mining websites throughout Oyo State.
The list exposed that SC Adeeyo himself contributed N10,000, while the greatest single contribution of N50,000 originated from SC Idowu Olugbenga of Grayfield Mining. Numerous officers contributed N20,000 and N30,000, while others, especially those in less profitable beats, were taped to have actually contributed N1,000.
The message advised officers to send their contributions to the Palmpay account, with the names of factors and their beats carefully recorded– a practice the whistleblower referred to as a tool for recognizing non-compliant officers.
In another WhatsApp message acquired by SaharaReporters, SC Adeeyo notified beat leaders that the commandant had actually declined the preliminary contributions and mandated an increased amount of N5,000 per officer, to be subtracted straight from their allowances.
The message read: “I want to plead that we should contribute 5k each to cover up for the two events. Because it has become a must for me to do it on Monday when everybody is presenting theirs. Everybody in beats will contribute 5k. That’s 5k per officer and it will be deducted from the source. I will find money to present on Monday so that we will meet up with others and I will be removing it till we get the money completed.”
The message even more advised: “Please kindly inform your men at the beat.”
The whistleblower informed SaharaReporters that the commandant’s need for N5,000 per officer was a considerable boost from the previous N1000, which he had actually declined as inadequate.
“He mandated it to the extent of he rejecting the previous N1,000 that we even contributed, and now raised it to N5,000 per personnel, and even saying that they’re going to remove it from the source of the allowance that we’re supposed to earn in our beat,” the source stated.
Another message from SC Adeeyo, dated August 28, revealed that the commandant’s birthday would be commemorated on August 29, with a series of occasions currently underway because Tuesday.
“I want to inform you that tomorrow 29th of August is the state Commandant birthday and everyone is preparing like seriously for the event on Monday. We have actually started the commandant birthday week since Tuesday with series of games events,” the message read.
The message included: “And almost all the unit heads have brought their gifts today. I didn’t ask anybody from beats to contribute for his birthday ceremony from the beat because of the last harvest that he rejected the money we contributed.”
The whistleblower, nevertheless, informed SaharaReporters that in spite of the claim that beat officers were not being asked to contribute for the birthday, the truth on the ground was various.
“What concerns us with birthday? What concerns us with your church want to do harvest? And he mandated it to the extent of he rejecting the previous N1,000 that we even contributed, and now raised it to N5,000 per personnel,” he stated.
The whistleblower explained the environment within the Oyo State Command as one of worry and intimidation, where officers who attempt to speak up are instantly moved or confronted with produced allegations.
“We’re all suffering, suffering and smiling. I’m an arms bearer, I was trained, and to God be the glory, today I’m still in active service,” he stated.
“So, each beat, they’ll be deducting or taxing each one of us. And this has been the norm that has been happening all this while. This has not been happening before, but when this our commandant came in, this is what is happening.”
He included: “You cannot talk, especially in this public servant of a thing. We, like the soldiers normally say, ‘zombie.’ When you raise any accusation, before you know what, you’ll be deployed or posted or just find one kind of accusation. And that’s how it has been. A lot of abnormalities is going on.”
Commandant Augustine Padonu, according to the whistleblower, comes from Badagry, Lagos State, and was published to the Oyo State Command in January 2024.
The whistleblower declared that the commandant utilizes SC Adeeyo Oluremi Babatunde to gather the funds, without any clear accounting of just how much is eventually remitted to the commandant.
“Out of all whatsoever is going on, you cannot precisely say the actual amount that is remitting to the commandant, but this is how he’s been using it, and definitely he will be getting his own share,” the source stated.
The accusations versus Commandant Padonu and SC Adeeyo Babatunde raise major concerns about discipline, responsibility, and well-being within the NSCDC, a firm charged with securing vital nationwide facilities and offering security services.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, developed by Act No. 2 of 2003, is mandated to supply procedures versus the breakdown of order, safeguard vital nationwide properties, and carry out other security-related functions. The supposed extortion of workers by their superiors for individual gain highlights a much deeper rot within the firm’s command structure.
Officers on beats, especially those in profitable places such as mining websites, hotels, and business organisations, are typically subjected to numerous types of tax by their superiors– a practice that has actually ended up being endemic throughout commands in Nigeria.
The whistleblower’s account, if validated, would represent among the most outright cases of internal extortion within the NSCDC, where a commandant presumably utilizes his position to fleece junior officers for individual spiritual and gatherings.
When SaharaReporters called SC Adeeyo Oluremi Babatunde for remark, he verified that he subtracted the stated quantity, questioning what was incorrect with that.
He stated: “So, I understand somebody may have reported to you, however I believe that matter is none of your service. Since I can inform you unconditionally that if that matter does not issue you, in every organization, in every organisation, there’s what they call what? Well-being. You can run a well-being to your employer. It depends upon how faithful you are to him. Are you getting me?
“So, if I’m collaborating individuals and I understand what is ideal to do for my manager, so I require to inform them. And I seek their approval before I did it. Are you getting me? It’s none of any reporter’s company. You do not need to be stressing over that. You comprehend? Okay, now, listen to me. For the number of months now, I did not subtract N1, a penny from their cash. When I believe that it is needed to do it for my employer, so I subtract it. They have been gathering total cash, so just how much is N5,000? Do you understand just how much I’m paying them monthly? You require to discover out things before you can state you desire to … Thank God that you called me. You get the fundamental concept of what in fact occurred.
“So, everybody that reported to you, just let them know that there’s sacrifice everywhere. You must do it to grow. If you don’t do… it’s not extortion as they put it. It’s something that we do for us to grow in the course of the job. You understand? People are doing more than that. So, I don’t know why they are complaining about just ordinary common N5,000. Do you know how much they’re collecting? Some are collecting above N100,000, N150,000 every month for them to make a sacrifice of… It’s just one month, so my brother, just forget about it.”
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