Some unlawful police officers retired before attaining the mandatory age of 60 years or 35 years in service have planned a committal proceeding against the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Force Secretary for disobeying the court’s reinstatement order.
   
The officers drawn mainly from Courses 33, 34 and 35 had, through a suit instituted in September 2021 by CSP Egwu Egong Egwu, dragged the IGP and Police Service Commission (PSC) before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) over what they termed illegal retirement without having attained the mandatory age of 60 years or 35 years in service.
 
In Suit No. NICN/ABJ/281/2021, CSP Egwu & 3 ORS, suing for  themselves and all members of Courses 33, 34 and 35 (Force Entrants Cadet Inspectors of the Police Academy) against Police Service Commission & 2 ORS, queried their unlawful retirement, and asked the court to order their reinstatement.
   
The industrial court, presided over by Justice O. O. Oyewumi in his ruling delivered on April 19, 2022, held that they should be reinstated. However, since the judgement was delivered, succeeding IGPs had failed to abide by it, and neither did they appeal.
   
The officers accused the police authorities and the PSC of being partial, saying some of their colleagues,  including CP Ben Ikwe, FCT Command, CP Peter Okpara, ACP Obo Obo Ukam, and ACP Akpan Brown, were beneficiaries of the court judgment and are still in the Force as a result of the verdict.
   
When contacted, Head Media and Publicity of PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, said: “I don’t think I can respond to this. What I think you should do is refer to the Force spokesperson, who, I think, is in a better position to speak on it.”
  
The Force spokesperson, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said: “This is not a question for me. I was not here when the matter came up. I will check with the legal department to get an update.
   
“But if you ask me, this is an inherited case. I do not think the IGP or the Force Sec is aware of this because it is an inherited case. I would advise them to be patient; do a letter to the IGP over the matter, both the IGP, Force Secretary and the legal department would have an audience with them.
    
“If they have a valid court judgment, I don’t think anybody can deny them their rights; nobody is out to witch-hunt anybody.”

Meanwhile, Egwu said: “We, the aggrieved police officers who have forcibly been retired, after a court judgment, will commence committal proceedings against the Inspector General of Police and Force Secretary for refusing to obey the judgment of the National Industrial Court delivered by his  Lordship, Justice O. O. Oyewumi delivered on April 19, 2022 in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/281/2021.
   
“The court held that the decision of the Police Service Commission in its plenary meeting, in relation to the regularisation of the date of first appointment of all members of Courses 33, 34 and 35, is valid and subsisting, and therefore stopped the plan or attempt to retire some of them who have not reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 years and who have not put in 35 years of pensionable service in the Force.”