EXCLUSIVE: Immigration Officers Accuse JTF Commanders Of Diverting N93,000 Monthly Feeding Allowances, Leaving Them With One ‘Poor’ Meal Daily In Borno”

The Nigerian Immigration personnel attached to the Joint Task Force (JTF) operations in Kai, Maiduguri, Borno State, have accused their commanders of diverting feeding allowances meant for them, leaving hundreds of officers with only one inadequate meal a day.

The aggrieved personnel, who spoke exclusively to SaharaReporters under strict anonymity for fear of reprisal, lamented that despite the Federal Government allocating N93,000 per officer monthly for feeding, they are being starved while their superiors pocket the funds.

According to the officers, the arrangement is for their commanders to handle feeding, just as in the Army, but the scheme has become an avenue for embezzlement.

“We only get food once a day, and yesterday it came around 4:09 p.m. That was our first and only meal,” one officer told SaharaReporters.

“The food is terrible, sometimes without even a single piece of fish in the soup. Yet, we are in an active operation zone risking our lives daily.”

The officers disclosed that there are 234 Immigration personnel under the JTF in Kai, but only about 20 who reside inside the barracks are entitled to the limited food served.

“Since morning, none of us has eaten. No choice but to wait till they bring the food. Imagine fighting terrorists on an empty stomach,” another source lamented.

They identified their commandant as Mr. Pankeys, with an officer named Shedrack serving as the administrator, alleging that both men are responsible for the mismanagement.

The personnel further alleged that complaints are met with intimidation and threats of detention.

“If we attempt to speak up about our rights, they detain us in the guardroom. That is why we are appealing to SaharaReporters to expose the injustice. Many of our colleagues have already withdrawn from the operation due to the poor leadership,” one officer revealed.

SaharaReporters obtained a photograph of the food served to the officers on Tuesday, showing a small, watery portion with no visible protein.

The aggrieved officers called on the Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service (CGIS), Mrs. Kemi Nanna Nandap, to urgently intervene before morale among the troops further collapses.

“We want the CGIS to step in. We are not asking for too much, just our rightful three-square meals per day, which the government has already approved and funded,” the officers said.

They warned that if the situation persists, some personnel may abandon their posts, and this will endanger ongoing security operations in the insurgency-ravaged North-East.