The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) disbursed a total of ₦402.8million on burial expenses for its commands and formations over a 14-month period, according to an analysis of payment records on Govspend, highlighting the financial toll that the country’s persistent security challenges continue to impose on the force.
The expenditure, spread across eight separate payments between April 2024 and December 2025, was made as overhead allocations for burial expenses to police commands and formations nationwide.
The payment records showed that on April 5, 2024, the police released ₦55 million as burial expenses for various commands, schools and zones covering the January–February 2024 allocation.
A subsequent payment of ₦50 million was made on July 10, 2024, described as payment for burial expenses covering the March–April 2024 allocation.
Barely six weeks later, another ₦54.8 million was released on August 21, 2024, with the payment description stating that it was “being payment for burial expenses to various commands and formations for the month of July, 2024 allocation.”
On October 10, 2024, the force approved another ₦50 million, described as payment of burial expenses for various commands and formations for the July and August 2024 period.
The expenditure continued towards the end of the year, with ₦60 million paid on December 28, 2024, as burial expenses covering the September–October 2024 allocation.
The pattern was repeated in 2025. On June 27, 2025, the police released ₦50 million for the January–February 2025 burial allocation.
Another ₦50 million was paid on October 14, 2025, with the payment description stating that it was “being payment as overhead cost allocation for burial expenses for commands and formations for the month of March/April 2025.”
The final payment captured in the records was made on December 31, 2025, when ₦33 million was released as overhead distribution to commands and formations for May–June 2025 burial expenses.
Altogether, the eight payments amounted to ₦402.8 million. The records collectively covered 14 unique months of burial expense allocations, although one entry relating to July 2024 appeared to overlap with another payment covering the same period.
The expenditure comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s prolonged security crisis, with police officers regularly deployed to combat banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery and communal violence across different parts of the country.
The Nigeria Police Force has suffered casualties in the line of duty over the years as officers participate in joint security operations, respond to attacks and confront heavily armed criminal groups.
While the payment records do not disclose the number of officers whose burials were covered or provide a breakdown of how the funds were distributed among commands and formations, they indicate that burial expenses remain a recurring overhead cost for the force.
The records also underscore the financial implications of maintaining police operations amid continuing security threats, as resources are allocated not only for operational activities but also for welfare-related obligations arising from the loss of personnel.
The payment descriptions did not provide additional details regarding the beneficiaries, individual commands that received the allocations or the criteria used in distributing the burial expense funds.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that bandits abducted the Chairman of the Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Hon. Nura Umar Bungudu, after attacking his residence in a late-night raid that left four security personnel dead.
The attack occurred on Thursday night in the Zango area of Bungudu town, less than 20 kilometres from Gusau, the Zamfara State capital.
According to residents, the heavily armed gunmen stormed the council chairman’s residence, where they engaged security personnel in a fierce gun battle before abducting the chairman.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the assailants killed two police officers and two vigilantes assigned to protect the chairman’s residence.
“They killed two policemen and two vigilantes, including one volunteer vigilante who had been actively helping to protect the town from bandit attacks,” the source said.
(SaharaReporters)
