10,000 Nigeria Police Constables Sacked As Court Nullifies Their Recruitment By IGP

The court of appeal in Abuja has nullified the recruitment of 10,000 constables carried out by Mohammed Adamu, the inspector-general of police, in 2019. 98472 Read: In a unanimous judgement on Wednesday, a three-man panel of the appellate court led by Olabisi Ige, held that the IGP lacked the power to make the recruitment for the police force. The court held that the power to carry out the recruitment was exclusively that of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

The judgment upturned the December 2, 2019 verdict of a federal high court in Abuja which upheld the powers of the IGP to carry out the said recruitment. In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1124/2019, filed before the high court in September 2019, PSC had argued that the IGP by law has no role to play “in the appointment, promotion, dismissal or exercise of disciplinary measures over persons holding or aspiring to hold offices in the Nigeria Police Force”. They prayed the court to nullify the recruitment process already commenced by the NPF and the IGP. But Inyang Ekwo, judge of the federal high court, dismissed PSC’s case for lacking merit.

Ekwo noted that Section 71 of the said Nigeria Police Service Regulations, 1968, gave the power to enlist constables to the police council and the NPF under the control of the IGP, and not the PSC. However, setting aside the judgment of the lower court, the court of appeal upheld the PSC’s case, resolving all the issues raised in its favour. Ige, who read the judgment, held that the police regulation which purportedly conferred power on the IGP to recruit constables “is null and void being in conflict with the Constitutional powers vested in the Police Service Commission”. Consequently, the court declared the recruitment carried out by the IGP “null and void”.

Recall that the police yesterday declared wanted former Nigerian Minister of State for Education, Chief Kenneth Gbagi over petitions indicting him in the dehumanization of four of his hotel staff and his refusal to oblige invitations by the Commissioner of Police, CP Muhammed Inuwa. Onome Onovwakpoyeya, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in a statement appealed to the general public to furnish the Command with information on the ex-Minister's whereabouts for his immediate arrest. The statement first reported by Nigerian Tribune reads:

“THE DELTA STATE POLICE COMMAND DECLARE OLOROGUN KENNETH GBAGI WANTED. “Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi was invited by the Commissioner of Police through the Area Commander Warri and DPO Ebrumede Division on September 25th, 2020 for questioning concerning the alleged dehumanizing manner in which he ordered some of his staffs to be stripped nak3d and physically assaulted because of an alleged case of stealing which took place at Signatious Hotel belonging to him. Kenneth Gbagi personally and severally called and gave the excuse that he has a burial ceremony of his elder sister on Friday 25/9/2020 in which he is a key player, and asked for time to finish with the ceremony on Sunday, thereafter will report at the State Headquarters on Monday, September 28, 2020. These requests were granted on humanitarian ground.

“On Monday, September, 28th2020, Kenneth Gbagi called the Commissioner of Police to say that he has a court case to attend to, promising to report at the Police Headquarters in Asaba by 3:00 pm; again he was equally obliged. On the same date, the Commissioner of Police had to call him at about 5:00 pm before the same Kenneth Gbagi said he was on his way to the State HQ Asaba. Sadly and unfortunately Kenneth Gbagi still failed to report instead he went into the public space to disparage, blackmail and maligned the person of the Commissioner of Police and the Nigeria Police Force, Delta State Command for insisting on investigating him. “Having failed to honour his promises, DELTA STATE POLICE COMMAND is left with no option than to DECLARE OLOROGUN KENNETH GBAGI WANTED.

READ NEXT: “Therefore members of the public with useful information as to his whereabouts are advised to go to the nearest Police Station to report for his immediate arrest and handing him over to the Command for thorough investigation/prosecution.”