The Nigeria Police Force has agreed to comply with a National Industrial Court of Nigeria ruling ordering the reinstatement of 92 officers who were forcefully retired in 2021 before reaching their statutory retirement age.
The affected officers, drawn from Course 33, 34, and 35 of the Nigeria Police Academy, were retired despite not attaining the mandatory 60 years of age or completing 35 years in service. Dissatisfied with their forced exit, the officers took legal action, and in April 2022, the court ruled in their favor, directing their reinstatement.
Despite the court’s ruling, the Inspector General of Police,the Police Service Commission and the Secretary of the Police Force allegedly failed to implement the judgment.
This led the officers to return to court, seeking a contempt order against the IGP for disobeying the ruling.
As part of compliance efforts, the police invited the affected officers to Abuja in August 2024 for documentation, a move seen as a step towards their reinstatement. However, no further action followed.
During a committal proceeding at the NICN last week, the officers’ lawyer, Mr. Adeleke Agbola (SAN), urged the court to ensure full enforcement of the reinstatement order. He noted that the PSC had issued a circular attempting to calculate the officers’ service years from their initial entry into the police force, instead of from their academy entry date, as ruled by the court.
“There is no appeal against this judgment. I urge the court to maintain the status quo until the committal proceedings determine whether there has been a breach of the judgment,” Agbola argued.
In response, police counsel Mr. Ade Adedeji (SAN) assured the court that steps were being taken to obey the ruling. He confirmed that there was no appeal against the judgment and gave an undertaking that the police would comply fully.
“We have taken steps to obey the court’s judgment. There is no appeal against it; it is final. All the affected officers have been posted. I give an undertaking that the police will comply with the judgment and uphold the rule of law,” Adedeji stated.
