Several members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have accused the outfit of failing to promote them as and when due because of their possession of Higher National Diplomas (HNDs).

FIJ learned that a significant number of employees with HNDs hired by the NSCDC in 2012 have not received official promotions since 2016 despite revisions to the HND and BSc distinction in the same year.

Speaking with FIJ, a Kwara-based official who was appointed by the corps in 2012 as an instructor, said that ever since his appointment, he had not been promoted.

He stated that he remained a level 7 employee from 2012 to 2016, and that despite the federal government’s policy to abolish the dichotomy between the HND and the bachelor’s degree, he was not promoted.

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Despite the NSCDC regulations allowing staff to be promoted every three years, he and others in similar situations were not granted promotions until the 2016 policy change compelled the commission to adjust their ranks, placing them at the positions they should have started with.

“The removal of the dichotomy brought us to level 8. Since our elevation to level 8 in 2016, we have attempted promotional exams five times but have not been promoted. Individuals who were at level 6 when we attained level 8 in 2016 now have two stars,” he told FIJ.

He said that he and other concerned NSCDC staff had written letters to the Senate and other organisations seeking assistance but this had only yielded repercussions for many of them.

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“When the higher-ups discovered our platform, they began arresting us. The person who created the WhatsApp group and the financial secretary have been summoned to Abuja,” he said.

“They said they would issue queries and add them to their records, which reflects negatively on our service records. This was solely because we demanded our rightful promotions. It’s been 11 years without a promotion, which is unjust.”

He further explained the extent of injustice he and others had faced, noting that while the NSCDC recruited junior officers in 2016, who had since risen to higher ranks like sergeants and corporals, he had remained stagnant.

Another officer who started as an instructor in Minna, Niger State, in 2012, told FIJ he had been condemned to stagnancy because of his academic qualification while those who obtained a bachelor’s degree after their appointment had been promoted several times.

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He said that although he started out as a level 7 officer and was promoted to level 8 in 2016, the commission had denied him and many other HND holders the right to write promotional exams.

“Our names never appear on the list for promotion. In 2017 in Minna, we were not allowed to sit for a promotional exam. All our counterparts in other agencies have been promoted. Our exam for promotion is supposed to be every three years, but career stagnancy is what we get,” he lamented.

“The worst is that the HND holders recruited after 2012 get promotion. Only our set has been cheated and is suffering this fate. When we were made level 8 officers in 2016, our bachelor’s degree counterparts were already level 9 officers. Now, the 2016 and 2019 employees are above us.”

FIJ sent an email to the NSCDC on Friday for comments on the matter but the organisation had not responded as of press time.