The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, is facing the prospect of imprisonment following a fresh contempt of court motion filed by the widow of a Lagos businessman who disappeared after his abduction by operatives of the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) more than eight years ago.
Mrs. Nnenna Anozie has accused the nation’s top police officer of deliberately disobeying a Federal High Court judgment delivered in September 2025, which directed the Inspector-General to take concrete steps toward prosecuting five former SARS officers implicated in the abduction and enforced disappearance of her husband, John Chukwuemeka Anozie.
According to court records and reports from rights monitors, Mr. Anozie, a businessman based in Lekki, Lagos, was taken from his residence on June 17, 2017, by a team of SARS operatives who had travelled from their base in Awkuzu, Anambra State.
The officers allegedly seized two SUVs, briefcases containing substantial amounts of foreign and local currencies, international passports belonging to family members, ATM cards, and other personal belongings before vanishing with the victim.
Mr. Anozie has not been seen or heard from since that day, and his family believes he was killed during or shortly after the abduction.
In response to years of unanswered petitions, Mrs. Anozie, through her counsel Vincent Adodo, escalated the matter to the Federal High Court in Abuja (Suit No: FHC/ABJ/865/2025).
After hearing the case, Justice N.E. Maha, in a ruling delivered on September 24, 2025, ordered the Inspector-General of Police to present the indicted officers for prosecution.
The court also directed the police authorities to release key documents to the plaintiff, including the full investigation report compiled by the IGP Monitoring Team, the original case file from the 2017 X-Squad probe, and the legal opinion recommending prosecution that had been in police possession since shortly after the incident.
Additionally, the judgment awarded Mrs. Anozie N2 million in damages to compensate for the police force’s refusal to provide her with the requested investigation documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
Despite the clear and binding court directives, the police have allegedly failed to comply with any of these orders, prompting the latest legal action.
The contempt motion now before the court accuses IGP Egbetokun of willful disobedience and seeks his committal to Kuje Correctional Centre—or any other appropriate facility—until the judgment is fully obeyed.
Sources close to the matter indicate that a hearing on the contempt application has been scheduled for February 9, 2026.
This development comes amid broader public concern over persistent allegations of impunity within the Nigeria Police Force, particularly in relation to the excesses of the former SARS unit.
The 2017 Anozie case has been cited in various reports documenting patterns of extrajudicial abductions, extortion, and disappearances carried out by tactical police squads, many of which were highlighted during the #EndSARS protests and subsequent judicial panels of inquiry across the country.
Mrs. Anozie’s pursuit of justice has spanned multiple petitions, including one submitted in 2019 that triggered an internal police investigation, which reportedly identified and even arrested some of the involved officers.
However, no formal charges were ever brought, and the suspects were eventually released without prosecution.
Legal observers note that the current contempt proceedings represent a rare and significant challenge to the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force at its highest level.
The outcome of the February hearing could have far-reaching implications for police accountability, especially in long-standing cases of alleged human rights violations that have lingered unresolved for years.
Neither the Inspector-General of Police nor the Force Public Relations Office had issued an official response to the contempt motion at the time of this report.
READ ALSO: Dangote Files Fresh Petition Against Ex-NMDPRA Chief Farouk Ahmed at EFCC Amid ICPC Withdrawal
The case continues to draw attention to the difficult balance between law enforcement authority and adherence to judicial orders in Nigeria’s ongoing struggle against police impunity.
Follow the Parallel Facts channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaCQSAoHgZWiDjR3Kn2E
