Sunday October 25, 2026
By SituationREPORT
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP, has directed the suspension of a six-month induction programme for senior officers who were recently reinstated into the Nigeria Police Force, following a court ruling on their retirement and reinstatement.
According to a report by the PUNCH, the directive, contained in a police wireless message instructed the affected officers to leave the Police Staff College in Jos with their personal belongings immediately.
A copy of the message was addressed to the Police Staff College, Jos, and the National Institute of Police Studies, Abuja, with a copy sent to the office of the Inspector-General of Police.
The message indicated that the suspension was in compliance with a recent decision of the National Industrial Court.
“INGENPOL directs you to temporarily suspend ongoing six-month induction course for reinstated senior officers,” the message partly read.
“All course participants to vacate premises with their personal effects with immediate effect.”
The development followed a ruling delivered by Justice Buhari Sani of the National Industrial Court, Abuja, on September 28, 2026, in suit number NICN/KN/51/2026.
The case was instituted by the Advocacy for Human Rights and Cultural Values for Development Initiatives against the Inspector-General of Police and five other defendants.
In the ruling, the court vacated an earlier ex parte order issued on September 22, which had restrained the police authorities and the Police Service Commission from implementing the reinstatement of Cadet Assistant Superintendents of Police from Courses 18, 19 and 20.
The judge also struck out an ex parte motion dated September 18, ruling that it lacked merit and amounted to an abuse of court process.
Justice Sani said the earlier order had been issued on a “misapprehension of the true state of affairs” because the applicant failed to disclose material information about an existing court judgment concerning the reinstatement of the officers.
According to the judge, the reinstatement was not simply an administrative decision but the implementation of an existing judgment of the National Industrial Court in suit number NICN/ABJ/28/2025, which had been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
“The presence of a subsisting judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction fundamentally alters the legal landscape,” the judge held.
He explained that a court could not restrain the implementation of a valid and subsisting judgment as though it were an unlawful administrative decision.
“The real urgency contemplated by law was therefore absent,” the judge said, adding that the applicant had failed to demonstrate that the subject matter of the case was in danger of being destroyed.
The court further emphasised that applicants seeking ex parte orders were required to disclose all relevant facts fully and honestly.
“The failure of the applicant to disclose the existence of the judgment in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/28/2025 and its affirmation by the Court of Appeal is a material non-disclosure that strikes at the heart of the ex parte order,” the judge ruled.
The reinstatement of the officers followed an earlier court judgment concerning the regularisation of their dates of first appointment and the application of Section 18(8) of the Police Act, 2020, which addresses the maximum period of service and retirement age of police personnel.
In a letter dated July 31, 2026, the Force Secretary, Assistant Inspector-General of Police Bode Akinbamilowo, communicated the Police Service Commission’s decision on the regularisation of the appointment dates of Assistant Superintendents of Police and inspectors recruited through the cadet system.
The letter explained that the affected officers had been retired following a commission decision in January 2025. However, their retirements were subsequently reversed in compliance with the National Industrial Court’s judgment in suit number NICN/ABJ/28/2025.
Following the reversal, the Inspector-General directed the officers to report to the Police Staff College, Jos, for the six-month induction programme, which has now been suspended.
Among the officers listed in the July 31 letter were Assistant Inspector-General of Police Owohunwa Idowu and AIG Benneth Chinedu Igwe, both members of Cadet ASP Course 19 of 1996, as well as Deputy Commissioner of Police Simon Asamber Lough of Course 20 of 2000.
The three officers were among those whose retirements were reversed following the court judgment.
According to the document attached to the letter, Owohunwa was born on July 20, 1970, and appointed to the Force on August 15, 1996. Igwe was born on October 7, 1968, and joined the Force on the same date.
Lough was born on May 14, 1969, and appointed on May 1, 2000.
The document listed their retirement dates based on age and length of service.
For Owohunwa, the dates were July 20, 2030, based on age, and August 15, 2031, based on length of service. Igwe’s corresponding dates were October 7, 2028, and August 15, 2031, while Lough’s were May 14, 2029, and May 1, 2035.