The Nigeria Police Force has described the call for the sack and imprisonment of the Inspector-General of Police by some retired police officers who claimed to have got a judgment for their reinstatement into the Force as baseless and mischievous.
It would be recalled that some retired police officers went to the National Industrial Court in April 2022 to challenge their retirement.
Judgment was however delivered in their favour by the court.
Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the judgment, which had been appealed in suit number: NICN/AB/21M/2023 filed by the Nigeria Police legal team on Wednesday, 8th February, 2023, and was currently in court awaiting a hearing and subsequent judgment on the appeal, was inconsistent with the provisions of the Public Service Rules on the basis for retirement from public service.
Adejobi said retired police officers joined the Nigeria Police Force as recruit constables in 1984 and 1986 respectively.
Having served for ten years and over, they were privileged to be admitted as Force Entrants into Cadet Inspector Courses 33, 34, and 35 of the Nigeria Police Academy in 1994, 1996, and 2000 respectively.
“It is pertinent to note that ‘Force Entrant’ is a scheme by the Nigeria Police Force where deserving officers with requisite educational records are upgraded to a higher cadre after a brief training period at the Police Academy or at any approved Police College, and as such, not a fresh appointment.”
He said this implied that the service duration of such officers continued counting and did not automatically restart.
“Therefore,” according to the Public Service Rules, “the retired officers, having served in the public service and received salaries as required by law, cannot insist on remaining in service beyond the legally permitted period.”
“Consequently, the purported call for their reinstatement is strange to the law and unrealistic,” he said.
Adejobi said it was imperative to emphatically state that the Nigeria Police Force had filed a motion for a stay of execution while the appeal was slated for hearing at the Court’s convenience.
According to him: “The Nigeria Police hereby urge members of the public to discountenance publications that were widely circulated in the news, calling for the sack of the IGP on the above grounds as they are baseless, malicious, and mischievous.
“The Nigeria Police assure the public of their continued commitment to entrenching respect for the rule of law both within the policing system and in the discharge of policing services to the general public.”
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