Some retired police officers have accused the Inspector General of Police of being partial in his execution of a court order that ordered the retirees be reinstated to service.
In a statement signed by one of the retired officers, Emmanuel Idris, on Wednesday, the ex-policemen claim that the IGP was playing double standards as the force has implemented the judgment for some officers, in a similar case, who were loyalists of the IGP.
“…the police authority refused to regularise our date of appointments like our cadet ASPs counterparts who also got similar court judgement in their favour which the IGP immediately implemented last year through signal dated 24/5/2021 for cadet ASPs courses 18 (1994), 19 (1996) and 20 (2000) because it benefited his (IGP) cronies among whom is now a commissioner in one of the state commands.” The statement read in part.
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“Others are now DCPs and ACPs, some of whom should have retired in 2021. However, we, their cadet Inspectors counterparts of courses 33 (1994), 34(1996) and 35 (2000), were trained together at the same institution and the same period; the police authority refused to implement our judgement that was delivered and served since April 2022.”
Background
The Industrial Court, in April 2022, ruled that the Nigeria Police Force reinstate some officers who claimed to have been forcefully retired when they had not yet spent 35 years in service nor turned 60 years of age.
The aggrieved officers, however, claimed that the defendants–the IGP, the Police Service Commission and the Secretary of the Police Force —have refused to implement a fair judgment.
The retired officers then applied for a committal order from the court to send the IGP to prison for disobeying the court.
Reacting to the situation in a statement issued by the Force’s Public Relation Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, the force described the call for the IGP’s imprisonment as baseless and mischievous. The P.R.O. added that the force had filed ‘‘a motion for a stay of execution at the court while the appeal is slated for hearing at the court’s convenience.”
Stella Adeniyi
