A group of compulsorily retired Nigerian police officers has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and enforce a subsisting court judgment ordering their reinstatement into the Nigeria Police Force.
The officers, drawn from Courses 33, 34 and 35 of the Police Academy, made the appeal in a letter to the President, which was made public on Wednesday by their counsel, Adetoye Adejola.
The affected officers, many of whom were enlisted into the force between 1996 and 2000, said they were unlawfully forced out of service despite not attaining the statutory retirement age of 60 years or completing the mandatory 35 years in service.
Their appeal is anchored on a judgment of the National Industrial Court delivered on April 19, 2022, which nullified their compulsory retirements and ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force to reinstate them with full salaries, entitlements and other benefits.
More than three years after the ruling, the officers lamented that the judgment has remained unimplemented.
They alleged that following their compulsory retirement, their salaries were abruptly stopped, while some officers who were yet to be formally retired were sidelined and left without official duties.
According to the letter, repeated efforts to secure compliance with the court order have yielded no result, forcing the officers to seek presidential intervention.
The lawyers also drew the President’s attention to his recent directive mandating the withdrawal of police officers from VIP protection duties and their redeployment to frontline security operations and community policing.
They argued that reinstating the affected officers would strengthen the force at a time of rising insecurity and manpower shortages.
“In light of Mr President’s directive on redeploying police personnel to frontline duties, we respectfully wish to bring to Your Excellency’s attention the plight and potential value of some senior police officers who were compulsorily retired before attaining their due retirement age or statutory years of service,” the letter read.
The officers said their experience and training would be invaluable in supporting crime-fighting efforts and mentoring younger personnel within the force.
The appeal comes amid broader concerns over police welfare, including sustained agitation by retired officers for improved pensions and calls for an exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme.
However, the affected officers stressed that their demand is strictly for the enforcement of a valid court judgment on reinstatement, not pension reforms.
The development once again highlights lingering challenges surrounding compliance with judicial decisions within the Nigeria Police Force, even as the country grapples with growing security pressures and a shortage of trained personnel.
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