Six senior police officers accused of falsifying their ages and bypassing service regulations are now threatening the Nigerian Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, demanding that he retire alongside them.
The officers in question are Idowu Owohunwa, Simon Lough (SAN), Benneth Igweh, Aina Emmanuel, Salama Wakili Abdul, and Adepoju Olugbenga.
According to a report on Saturday, Egbetokun had directed these officers—who are either over 60 years old or have served for more than 35 years but refused to retire—to appear before a disciplinary committee at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
The hearings are scheduled to take place between Monday, February 10, and Thursday, February 13.
Meanwhile, police sources informed SaharaReporters on Sunday that Lough, Owohunwa, and the other officers summoned to the disciplinary panel could face demotion or outright dismissal.
“The goal of the IGP Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC) is to reduce the ranks and/or dismiss them outright,” a source said.
Sources also stated that aside from refusing to retire unless Egbetokun—who has also exceeded his retirement age—steps down with them, the senior officers claim that all decisions made by the police chief since his official retirement date on September 4, 2024, are invalid.
They argue that every action taken by Egbetokun since then, including issuing them retirement letters—which they have refused to acknowledge—is illegal.
“The senior police officers invited to appear before a disciplinary committee are threatening the police IG Egbetokun, saying that he must retire along with them since he has also passed his retirement and only saved by the President and the National Assembly,” one of the sources said.
“They also said that every action taken by Egbetokun since last September 4, his official retirement date, is illegal, including, but not limited to, the issuance of retirement letters to them, which they have refused to honour.”
Additionally, the senior police officers have seized upon the directive to appear before the disciplinary committee in their “working dress” as an admission by the police authorities that they are still very much in active service.
“They are also saying that if he ordered them to arrive in uniform for disciplinary action after they have been purportedly retired, then he is accepting that they are still in service,” one of the sources said.
SaharaReporters previously reported that these police officers, along with many others, were involved in forgery, age falsification, and circumventing service regulations.
Meanwhile, sources revealed to SaharaReporters that nearly 500 police officers were implicated in the scandal. However, some have chosen to retire quietly.
“There are also others who went to the National Industrial Court on Friday, with the IG’s lawyer promising not to retire them,” one of the sources said.
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