Lagos — The stench oozing from the dilapidated cesspits that litter the environment is suffocating, while the despoliation that pervades the environment signposts the highest level of squalor in every sense of the word. To add it up, the people appear hopeless, as they may have accepted it as their fate. The entire length and breath of the expansive landscape wallows in grime, a clear indication that sanitation may have become an anomaly within this environment and orderliness a forbidden exercise.

Is this a slave or a refugee camp? These questions assail the mind of any first time visitor to Ijeh Police Barracks, which shares border with the high profile Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos State. The piteous condition of the barracks aptly confirms the fear of an average police officer that the society does not care about him, hence his occasional resort to untoward acts in the sea of uncertainties that appear to have become the norm for survival.

The first encounter that any visitor may be in for a lot of amazement is felt at the entrance to the barracks. Here, hawkers of different sizes and shades, some with wheel-barrows and others carrying their wares on their head, cut the picture of a market square. But more is in the offing. On another corner, the sight of women clad in tardy attires shouting at the top of their voices customer come buy from me captures the attention of passers-by and the menacing maneuver of motor bike riders, commonly called Okada men makes the traffic situation alarming.

The traffic at the junction of the entrance, it was gathered, has defied every measure aimed at sanitising the place.

A senior police officer who spoke to Daily Independent on conditions of anonymity said that various attempts had been made to get the local council clear the artisans that clog the junction but to no avail.

"We have written on several occasions to the local council but they appear to be confused on what to do. We have even written to the police marshal on several occasions but he has not done anything to save the situation. I know you will think these people who sell at this junction are police relations but they are not. I can authoritatively tell you that they are from outside this barracks and most of them constitute nuisance here," he said.

However, the traffic mess at the junction is a child's play compared to the defacement and rot that have become a norm inside the barracks.

Block A, the first line of the many buildings that dot Ijeh Barracks paints the picture of total abandonment and disorderliness. Most of the buildings on this line have given way to ruins and rot as most of the cesspits have caved in. The sight of dirty water gushing out from the collapsed cesspits further confirms that Ijeh Police Barracks may be on the brink of epidemic outbreak if sanitary measures are not taken quickly enough to sanitise the environment.

At Block 2, Line C reported to have been razed down by fire in 2002, the ruins are still visible as the place has been overtaken by miscreants, who are neither even police relations nor children. The Line houses a furniture workshop, which does not have any correlation with the police authorities. Further, down the line, the sight of buildings with torn roofs at every corner triggers the suggestion that this could have been a dungeon or concentration camp. But it is not.

It may not be a slave camp in the right sense but the battered roofs of most of the buildings typify the kind of buildings found in a slave camp.

This can pass for a form of modern day slavery as any sane mind would be moved to tears for these policemen, who are supposed to be the custodians of law and order in our society but are living in abject rot.

The situation was made grimmer and nerve-wrecking by the many children that litter the entire stretch, oblivious of their squalid environs and its likely effect on their health. As they are seen playing in the dirt around the open pits, they confirm their state of innocence without prompting.

However, the most bizarre of the despoliation in Ijeh Police Barracks is found in Line E, where most of the buildings are already sinking due to flood and erosion. Irrespective of the life-threatening condition of these buildings, police officers and their families still live in them. It is believed that these kind of buildings fall short of the standard where men who are tasked with protecting lives and securities of Nigerians are supposed to live.

Daily Independent spoke with some of the wives of the police officers, whose tales appeared as heart-rending as their squalid situation.

Evelyn Osunbor (not real names) said that they had accepted living in squalor as their fate, stressing that they cannot act to the contrary because the police authorities have left them to die in ruins. My brother, we no go fit do otherwise as police don forget us for here. Where you want make we get money to rent house for this Lagos? We don live everything to God, if we die for inside this dirty, na only God go help us. Na so we see am, Osubor said with total resignation.

Cecilia Okoi, a police officer's wife was almost weeping as she complained that her new baby had been taking ill regularly since they transferred her husband to Ijeh Police Barracks. She used the opportunity to call on the media to help them talk to government to come to their rescue, especially for the babies in the barracks, whose health conditions are at peril.

Oga, you be journalist abi? Help us tell government sey our children health dey in danger as them they play inside this dirty environment .You see that pikin (pointing to a baby playing) as she dey play but she no know sey she fit contact disease. My baby who has never taken ill before is everyday going in-out of the hospital. My husband don spend plenty money when no dey to take care of her, Okoi lamented.

Some police officers that spoke to our reporter complained that they could not contribute money to repair the place because if they do, they might be transferred any moment and they would lose out.

"The police authorities collect four thousand every month from our salaries for living in this hell but we cannot complain. we would repair the place through self-effort but because you don't know when they will transfer you out and another person will come and enjoy your labour, that is why many of us have refused to do anything. We are living in the worst human condition here. That's why they accuse us of taking bribe because that is our consolation after living in this hell," Omokaro said.

However, the situation at Ijeh Police Barracks is compounded by the many illegal structures that have virtually taken over the entire landscape of the barracks. Among the many of these illegal structures the one that captures the sight of any visitor is Oyoyo Nursery and Primary School, situated at the extreme of Line F. The school as the name implies is a disaster waiting to explode. Oyoyo Nursery and Primary School is situated on a canal and many of the police children will have to cross the canal on daily basis to access the school. Even the building is already giving way to flood as the visible cracks on the wall only signify that the evil day is only being postponed. Even with this kind of makeshift arrangement, the school according to some police officers charges about N2,000 per term for each student. Incidentally, most of the police children attend the school, as most of them cannot afford to pay for school outside the barracks. There is also an Islamic School called Jamatul Islamiya at Line F, which it is alleged, does not have the approval of the police authorities. Mohammed Anwal Isiaka, who claimed to be a student of the school told our correspondent that the school was built with contributions from Islamic faithful within the barracks. When asked if it was approved by the police authorities, he claimed that it had papers from Lagos State Ministry of Education but not the police authorities.

The canal makes matters worse for the barracks, as it remains virtually stagnant because of buildings that impede its flow. Though the Lagos State Government built a drainage system in the barracks early in the year to tackle the flood situation, the erection of a church on the canal seems to worsen the flow of the canal. The church called St. Peters Church of the Lord, an Aladura sect, is situated on the canal and the officers seem helpless because a high-ranking officer is allegedly backing them. Other churches that add to complicate the environmental situation in the barracks include Holy City Evangelical Church, Deeper Life Bible Church, Christ Apostolic Faith Mission and Celestial Church of Christ. Most of these churches are believed not to have the approval of the police authorities but they litter the length and breadth of Ijeh Police Barracks.

A police officer who pleaded anonymity told Daily Independent that the provost marshal is responsible for allocation of space alleging a relationship with the churches, the reason they are waxing stronger by the day.

Philomena Ejinkonye, a resident of Dolphin Estate captures the living standard at the Barracks as the height of insensitivity of the police authorities on the plight of their officers and men. "How can people living in this kind of squalor protect lives and property when they are not protected on their own? This is the reason police officers deal with civilians mercilessly. Some of them even kill in the process. When you see these police officers on the road, they take bribes with reckless abandon because nobody cares for them. Even their own constituency, the police do not care for them. It is sad and painful," Ejinkoye lamented.

The squalid life that these police officers are subjected to is seen by many as the reason robbery has been on the rise in the society because police men look the other way most times. The officers, it is alleged put up poor attitudes to work because they believe they should not risk their lives to protect the life and property of the populace, hence lawlessness and disorderliness continue to thrive in the society.

When our reporter contacted the Lagos State Police Public Relation Officer, Frank Mba, on the matter, he said he did not have the authority to comment on the issue.

Several attempts to speak with Agberebi Akpoyebi, Force Public Relations Ofiicer proved abortive, as he did not pick his calls. Even text message sent to his mobile telephone was not responded to.