THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja will on Thursday, September 25, 2025, arraign five senior police officers accused of falsifying age records to unlawfully extend their years of service.
According to Daily Trust, The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, filed a 14-count charge against the officers, which the judge, Yusuf Halilu, is set to hear. Those listed in the charge sheet include Idowu Owohunwa, a retired Assistant Inspector General; Benneth Igwe, a retired Commissioner of Police; Ukachi Opara, a retired Commissioner of Police; Obo Ukam Obo, a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police; and Simon Lough, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police. The court documents also mentioned others at large.
According to the prosecution, Owohunwa, in December 2024, allegedly altered his age declaration to reflect July 20, 1970, as his date of birth instead of his actual birth year.
Similarly, Igwe was accused of tampering with his record to show October 7, 1968, whereas investigators claim he was born in 1964. His enlistment documents also reportedly carried conflicting entry dates of 1988 and 1996.
The charge further alleged that Lough falsified his records in July 2022 by changing his birth year from 1967 to 1969 in breach of the Public Service Rules. The offences, according to the police, contravene sections 97, 161, 366 and 158 of the Penal Code.
The accused officers have denied the allegations, describing them as baseless. They insisted the charges arose from a petition by a civil society group, Integrity Youth Alliance, led by Kelvin Adegbenga, which accused them of manipulating their records to prolong their stay in service.
Following the petition, the IGP issued queries of serious misconduct on January 7, 2025. In his response dated January 16, 2025, Owohunwa admitted there was a mix-up in his APER Form for Senior Police Officers, which mistakenly reflected 1970 as his year of birth, but maintained that his official appointment date of August 15, 1996, had never been altered.
Igwe and Lough also rejected the allegations, explaining that the petitioner confused their details with the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria scheme, which permits qualified officers to be upgraded. They argued that under the scheme, officers were deemed to have resigned from previous appointments upon conversion to senior ranks.
Despite their defence, the police maintained that the discrepancies in their records were serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution.
The ICIR reported on Friday, January 31, that the Police Service Commission (PSC) approved the immediate retirement of officers above 60 or those who had served for 35 years.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Ikechukwu Ani, the PSC said at its 24th plenary meeting on 27th and 28th September 2017, it approved that recruits and other officers of the NPF should have their date of appointment in the Force against the date of their enlistment documented.
But in February, in what appears to be a negation of the PSC directive, Egbetokun blocked the retirement of all police officers who had either exceeded 35 years in service or were above 60 years.
According to Sahara Reporters, Egbetokun made a volte-face on his earlier decision to allow the officers to quit service.
The decision came amidst raging controversy trailing Egbetokun’s continuation in office as the nation’s police chief.
The IG had earlier ordered the immediate retirement of senior police officers allegedly implicated in bypassing service regulations.
He also ordered the immediate retirement of senior police officers who were either over 60 years old or had served for more than 35 years.
Lough was supposed to have retired on January 8, 2022, while Igweh should have retired on January 5, 2023.
The directive was contained in a letter dated February 1, signed by the deputy force secretary, Bode Akinbamilowo, on behalf of the IGP.
The officers were reminded of the “comprehensive implementation” of the Police Service Commission (PSC) instructions dated January 31, 2025, with particular emphasis on paragraphs three and four of the letter.
A reporter with the ICIR
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