Disengaged police officers beg Tinubu for reinstatement

Some officers, who were reportedly disengaged from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) recently, have urged President Bola Tinubu to order the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to reinstate them as directed by the National Industrial Court.

The aggrieved ex-officers, who were members of Courses 33, 34, and 35 from the Nigeria Police Academy, claimed that they were unjustly retired before completing 35 years of service, or reaching the mandatory age of 60 years.

In April 2022, the affected officers had challenged their alleged forced retirement at the National Industrial Court in Abuja, securing a favourable judgment, in the process.

However, they claimed that the IGP, Police Service Commission (PSC), and the secretary of the force were yet to enforce the ruling. In an open letter to the President at the weekend, the plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Olatoye Adejola, expressed their dissatisfaction over the alleged inaction of the police authorities, stressing that the court had directed the IGP to re-engage them, yet there was no compliance.

According to the correspondence, the force ordered the affected officers to report to Abuja in August 2024 for documentation for their onward reabsorption, but, regrettably, after the documentation, nothing was heard on the matter.

The letter reads in part: “We are solicitors to police officers, who are members of Courses 33, 34, and 35 (Force Entrants) of the Police Academy of the Nigeria Police Force (hereinafter referred to as “our clients”), and on whose mandate, we write this letter of complaint as a corollary to our previous letters and other steps already taken by our clients to ease their long-time suffering and pains as a result of the inaction of the police authorities.

“We wish to express our deep concerns about the failure of the Inspector General of Police in ensuring compliance and implementation of the directive of the Commission to the effect that the Industrial Court judgment in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/281/2021 be enforced, and all officers affected by the judgment are to have their dates of appointment regularised.