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Alleged Premature Retirement of Officers: Police Say Call for IGP’s Sack, Jailing, Mischievous

...Insist such calls are against the law as Police have appealed NIC judgement

Force Headquarters, Thursday, reacted sharply to calls for the arrest and imprisonment of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, for refusing to reinstate some retired police officers contrary to the judgement of the National Industrial Court, NIC, on April 19, 2022.

The aggrieved officers had been pressing the IGP, the Police Service Commission, PSC, and the Force Secretary to reinstate them following the order of the National Industrial Court presided over by Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi.

The embittered officers had, in a statement, signed by their leader, Emmanuel Idris, claimed that they were forcefully retired from service before age 60 and less than 35 years in service as against extant laws.

They informed in the petition that they enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force in 1996, 1999, and 2000 respectively, and are mad at the refusal of the IGP to reinstate them despite the NIC order.

But Force Headquarters picked up the gauntlet, Thursday, and rubbished the call for the IGP’s arrest for allegedly disobeying court order, describing it as mischievous and alien to the law. 

A statement issued by  the Force Public Relations Officer, FPRO, Mr. Olumyiwa Adejobi, Thursday, said:

“The Nigeria Police Force has described the call for the sack and imprisonment of the Inspector-General of Police by some retired police officers who claimed to have gotten a judgment for their reinstatement into the Force as baseless and mischievous.

“It would be recalled that some retired police officers went to the National Industrial Court in April 2022 to challenge their retirement. Judgment was however delivered in their favour by the court. The said judgment, which has been appealed in suit number: NICN/AB/21M/2023 filed by the Nigeria Police legal team on Wednesday 8th February, 2023, and is currently in court awaiting a hearing and subsequent judgment on the appeal, is inconsistent with the provisions of the Public Service Rules on the basis for retirement from public service.

“For the records, the said retired police officers joined the Nigeria Police Force as recruit constables in 1984 and 1986 respectively. Having served for ten years and over, they were privileged to be admitted as Force Entrants into Cadet Inspector Courses 33, 34, and 35 of the Nigeria Police Academy in 1994, 1996, and 2000 respectively. It is pertinent to note that “Force Entrant” is a scheme by the Nigeria Police Force where deserving officers with requisite educational records are upgraded to a higher cadre after a brief training period at the Police Academy or at any approved Police College, and as such, not a fresh appointment.

“Essentially, this implies that the service duration of such officers continues counting and does not automatically restart. Therefore, according to the Public Service Rules, the retired officers, having served in the public service and received salaries as required by law, cannot insist on remaining in service beyond the legally permitted period. Consequently, the purported call for their reinstatement is strange to the law and unrealistic.

“It is imperative to emphatically state that the Nigeria Police Force has filed a motion for a stay of execution while the appeal is slated for hearing at the Court’s convenience. The Nigeria Police hereby urges members of the public to discountenance publications that were widely circulated in the news, calling for the sack of the IGP on the above grounds as they are baseless, malicious, and mischievous. The Nigeria Police assures the public of its continued commitment to entrenching respect for the rule of law both within the policing system and in the discharge of policing services to the general public.”

 

 

 

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