By Ebunoluwa Sessou

The Civil Society Forum for Police Reform, led by Comrade Ibrahim Ilyasu, has caled on the Federal Government and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force to uphold the rule of law by immediately complying with subsisting court judgments ordering the reinstatement of illegally retired police officers.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the Forum expressed deep concern that despite clear and unambiguous pronouncements by the National Industrial Court (NIC), the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Police Service Commission (PSC) have continued to act in defiance of judicial authority, a situation it said undermines ongoing police reform efforts and poses a threat to national security.

The Forum recalled that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, sitting in Abuja in Suit No: NICN/ABJ/28/2025 and presided over by Honourable Justice R. B. Hasstrup, had ordered the immediate reinstatement of senior police officers from Courses 18, 19, and 20, who were unlawfully and forcefully retired by the Nigeria Police Force and the PSC.
The affected officers — ACP Chinedu Emengaha, ACP Victor Chilaka, ACP Egwu Otu, CSP Sylvester Ebosele, CSP Sunday Okuguni, CSP Asuquo Inyang, CSP Kalu Chikozie, and CSP Adetu Omoteso — successfully established before the court that they were retired without due process and had not attained the mandatory retirement age stipulated by law.

In its judgment, the court unequivocally held that the circulars issued by the Police authorities purporting to retire the officers were unlawful, null, and void. Justice Hasstrup set aside the circular dated January 31, 2025, as well as subsequent actions by the Police Service Commission, describing them as an attempt to sit on appeal over the decision of a court of competent jurisdiction.

“The circular is hereby set aside. All the claimants are entitled to the reliefs sought. The Defendants are directed to recall the claimants to continue their service accordingly,” the court ruled.

The Civil Society Forum for Police Reform noted that this judgment mirrors earlier court decisions, including the April 2022 NIC judgment ordering the reinstatement of disengaged officers from Courses 33, 34, and 35 of the Nigeria Police Academy, which, it said, also remain largely unenforced.

According to the Forum, the persistent refusal by institutions charged with enforcing the law to obey court orders constitutes a grave threat to constitutional democracy and public confidence in the justice system. A senior legal practitioner reacting to the judgment described the conduct of the Police authorities as “a clear act of institutional sabotage and a dangerous precedent that poses a serious threat to national security.”

The Forum stressed that no society can sustain peace, discipline, or meaningful reform within its security architecture when court judgments are selectively obeyed or deliberately ignored.
It therefore called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and a known advocate of the rule of law, to urgently intervene by directing the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission to fully and immediately comply with all subsisting court judgments, regularise the affected officers’ appointments, and restore them to service without further delay.

The Forum expressed confidence that decisive presidential action would reaffirm the supremacy of the law, strengthen police morale, and demonstrate Nigeria’s commitment to justice, accountability, and genuine police reform.