Despite sacrificing daily to protect Nigerians, particularly residents of Cross River State, officers of the Nigeria Police Force posted to Calabar, Cross River State capital, are forced to live like animals in barracks that pose grave health hazards.
The Akim Police Barracks and the Moore Road Police Barracks reveal abject decay and a cruel deprivation where basic human dignity has been stripped away.
Dilapidated structures, leaking roofs, broken railings, abandoned toilets, and the absence of potable water and proper sewage systems have turned these barracks into a nightmare for officers.
The barracks are defined by leaking rooms, smelling sewage, abandoned and overflowing toilets, and general dilapidation. Broken railings on storey buildings pose a constant danger to children, who could fall off at any time.
Personnel and family members live like animals in the very quarters meant to shelter them, particularly junior officers.
At the Akim Police Barracks, the story of deprivation is particularly heart-wrenching.
An officer who craved anonymity said he has lived there for about 10 years, and the toilet facility has deteriorated over time.
“Since I started living here eight years ago, I have never for once made use of the toilet in the barracks,” he said.
The toilet pipes are leaking, and the septic tank in front of one of the blocks in the barracks has been damaged.
Another resident in the barracks said the barracks have not been renovated for at least the past two decades.
He added that most parts of the roof in the building are leaking, and this year’s rains have destroyed their files, electronics and food items.
“No renovation has taken place in this Barracks for the past two decades.
“This building would have collapsed years ago because of poor maintenance and why it is still standing today is because of the skeletal maintenance officers living in each room contributes.
“The little changes you see are from our personal contributions,” he said.
The story is not different at the Moore Road Police Barracks, where officers and their families endure comparable hardships.
The buildings constructed decades ago have received little or no rehabilitation, leaving occupants to battle with the same issues of water scarcity, poor sanitation, and structural decay.
Besides these, no new police barracks have been constructed in the state in the last decade.
The state government intervened within the barracks recently by constructing an access road within the Akim Barracks, which has improved access within the premises.
This intervention was also extended to other police formations within the state, but the condition of officers in the barracks, which is a direct responsibility of police authorities, remains very critical.
Personnel and their families have appealed passionately to the Federal Government and the Inspector-General of Police to intervene urgently before the situation deteriorates further.
Efforts to speak with the police authorities on the poor state of their barracks, particularly the health hazards facing personnel, were unsuccessful. When Daily Lamp contacted ASP Sunday Eitokpah, Police Public Relations Officer in Cross River State, he said he was not in the position to speak on the matter and referred our Reporter to the Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja.
When our Reporter reached out to CSP Anietie Okokon Edem Iniedu, Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, on the phone on October 15, 2026, he neither took calls nor replied to text messages.
At the time of filing this report, four days later, no response from the Force PRO.
Source: Daily Lamp
