Following an assessment of their tenure by a disciplinary commission, more than 340 officers from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have reportedly decided to retire.
According to reports, this decision was made before the committee founded by Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), submitted its final report.
The Force Management supported the screening process for the committee, which met Monday through Tuesday at the Force’s headquarters at Louis Edet House, Abuja.
Sources close to the committee confirmed the officers’ departure, albeit it is yet unclear whether possible punishments had an impact on their decisions.
It was stated that these officers, many of them were over 60 or had served for over 35 years, had not followed through on their retirement arrangements that were due.
Two Commissioners of Police, a top police lawyer, and Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) Benneth Igweh, who was in charge of Zone 7, were among those called for review.
The Nation said that it was verified that Mohammed Gumel, AIG Igweh’s successor, had formally taken over his duties.
The committee concentrated on officers who were expected to have retired in 2020 but had not done so for a variety of reasons, such as moving from rank-and-file to senior officer roles without completing the required police academy training.
According to a source with knowledge of the screening procedure, more than 340 officers had filed their retirements by Tuesday, when the committee finished its examination.
“A large number of them are senior officers.” Even those who knew they were expected to attend last year have gone. I don’t know if there were any penalties.
The force management team and the committee were permitted to be included in the group that screened the officers.
These are the people who were expected to retire in 2020 and beyond. The majority of them went from being rank and file to senior officers and did not attend the police school, but they did not change their age.
As a rank-and-file officer, you must retire if you wish to advance to the position of senior officer. Most of them, however, didn’t. Both levels were being used by them.
According to the source, there are retirement ages for them as constables and senior officers or commissioned officers.
In addition, the Police Service Commission (PSC) had previously mandated that senior officers who had served for more than 35 years or who had become 60 years old immediately retire.
Ikechukwu Ani, the Head of Press and Public Relations at PSC, claims that the decision was reexamined following a previous plenary meeting in 2017 that resulted in a change of the retirement rules.
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Following its January 31, 2025, meeting, the PSC released a statement confirming that the decision went against previous regulations and now mandated that all officials who met the age or service standards retire immediately.
For action, the Inspector-General of Police was informed of the decision.
Attorney-General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) confirmed that the President’s actions were within the law’s parameters, despite some critics questioning the timing of these retirements in light of President Bola Tinubu’s extension of IGP Egbetokun’s tenure.
