Amputated Ex-cop Cries Out Over Planned Eviction From Akure Apartment.
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This is definitely not the best of times for a 57-year-old ex-policeman, Sunday Ige who was retrenched as a corporal from the Nigeria Police Force in 2006 after a ghastly motor accident left him bedridden.
Not only was his leg amputated as a result of the accident, but he also suffered a spinal cord injury.
Ige’s situation is compounded by the threat to evict him from his Federal Ministry of Housing apartment in Akure, which was allocated to him in 1993, for his inability to offset the cost.
The disturbed ex-police officer, on Sunday, showed newsmen an eviction letter, he received from the Presidency in March 2022.
He lamented that he was given two weeks ultimatum to vacate the property, which will expire this week.
According to him, the house, located at Shagari Estate, Akure, the Ondo State capital was allocated to him in 1993, but he was yet to fully pay the N1.250 million, he was asked to pay for the purchase, which expired in 2007.
While lamenting his predicament, the ex-corporal said his condition had made it difficult for him to raise the balance of N1.125 million, after paying the initial deposit of N125,000 out of N1.250 million for the purchase of the house from the Federal Ministry of Housing.
Ige, who hails from Idoani in Ose Local Council of Ondo State, disclosed that he was enlisted into the Nigeria Police in 1991, adding that he was paid N225,000 in gratuity following his retrenchment, which was occasioned by the accident.
The ex-corporal, who had been bedridden for about 21 years said: “I was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force on September 1, 1991, and I passed out from the training school, Iperu in 1992. After the training, I was posted to Ijero-Ekiti in Ekiti State.
“In 1993, I was mobilised to the Nigeria Mobile Force, Akure. On January 16, 2001, I was posted for special duty in Lagos and attached to Itire Police Station, where a vehicle knocked me down while on duty.
“When the accident occurred, I was rushed to General Hospital, Ikeja and I was later moved to a private hospital. When my situation could not be handled at both the general and private hospitals, I was moved to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife. (OAUTH).
“At Ife, my leg was amputated. After the leg had been amputated, it was later discovered that I had a spinal cord injury, which has made movement difficult for me.
“I was discharged from OAUTH in November 2001. Then all the medical expenses were over N1 million. The police did not assist me to pay the entire medical bills. I paid with the little I had, as well as with the assistance of my family. My parents died because of the situation.”
Ige added that on December 31, 2006, he was retrenched as a corporal from the Nigeria Police and his salary was immediately stopped.
“In 2009, the police authority paid me N225,000 as my gratuity with my pension pegged at N5,000 monthly, later it was increased to N8,000 but with the minimum wage, I now received N16,000 as monthly pension.
“In 1993, the house was allocated to me. And in 2007, Federal Housing said that it wanted to dispose of the house at the rate of N1.250 million and we were told to pay 10 per cent first. I picked up interest to buy the house since I have been living there and I paid 10 per cent of the cost.
“Since then, I have not been able to raise the balance because of my condition. Just last week, the ministry brought an eviction letter that I should pack out of the house.
“If I’m evicted from this house, I have nowhere to go because of my condition. I have no wife because when the accident happened I was yet to get married. I am begging the government and well-meaning individuals to come to my aid. There is nowhere for me to go and there is no way I can raise the money,” he pleaded.
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