The Nigeria Police Force has agreed to comply with the ruling of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) by reinstating officers who were forcefully retired in 2021.
The affected officers, who were members of Courses 33, 34, and 35 of the Nigeria Police Academy, were prematurely disengaged from service despite not having reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 or the required 35 years in service.
Challenging their removal, the officers took their case to the NICN in Abuja, which ruled in their favor in April 2022.
However, despite the ruling, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Police Service Commission (PSC), and the Secretary of the Police Force allegedly failed to enforce the court’s decision.
In response, the officers returned to court, seeking action against the IGP for disobeying the judgment.
The NICN had ordered their immediate reinstatement, yet there was no implementation of the ruling.
Following the NICN’s latest intervention, the police force directed the concerned officers to report to Abuja in August 2024 for documentation, with expectations of their immediate reabsorption into the force.
However, after completing the documentation process, no further action was taken.
During a recent committal proceeding, the claimants’ counsel, Adeleke Agbola, SAN, urged the court to ensure that the officers’ reinstatement was upheld while the contempt case was being heard.
“This is a contempt proceeding. Some urgent issues have come up since the filing of this application. The PSC (Police Service Commission) used a circular that the initial date of entry is what will be used to calculate their (ex-cops’) date of entry, not when they got into the police academy.
The judgment of the court is that the date when the policemen got into the academy.”
Agbola emphasized that since there was no appeal against the judgment, the police must comply fully with the court’s directive.
“There is no appeal against the judgment. I urge the court that the status quo be maintained pending the hearing of these committal proceedings to determine if there has been a breach on the basis that the judgment of the court must be obeyed.”
Responding to the proceedings, the police counsel, Ade Adedeji, SAN, assured the court that the force was taking steps to implement the ruling.
He affirmed that there was no appeal against the judgment and reiterated the commitment of the police to upholding the rule of law.
“We have taken steps to obey the court’s judgment. The judgment is not challenged as there is no appeal. It is final. The circular has nothing to do with the claimants. It is without prejudice to the parties in this matter.
“We do not intend to do anything to overreach the court. We intend to comply with the judgment of the court and have sworn to the affidavit in this regard. All the claimants have been posted. I give an undertaking that all the defendants are law-abiding and will comply with the judgment and the rule of law.”
