The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has filed a 14-count criminal charge against several retired senior police officers, including former Assistant Inspector-General Idowu Owohunwa and former Commissioners of Police Benneth Igweh and Ukachi Peter Opara, over alleged age falsification and forgery.
Filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, under suit number CR/353/25, the charge also lists retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Obo Ukam Obo and retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Simon Lough (SAN) as defendants. Additional suspects, who are alleged to have played roles in the scheme, remain at large.
According to court documents, the accused, all former members of the Nigeria Police Force who enlisted around 1999, allegedly forged official police signals to manipulate their service records.
One such document, Signal No. DTO 221535/05/89—purportedly issued by NIGPOL Admin Lagos to the Commandant of the Police Academy in Kaduna—was cited as a key piece of evidence used in the alleged scheme.
The Inspector-General accuses the defendants of conspiracy, forgery, and unlawful alteration of official records, among other offenses.
Specific Allegations
The charges include the following:
On March 6, 2025, SaharaReporters revealed that the Nigeria Police Force had formally announced the retirement of seven senior officers, including Idowu Owohunwa and Simon Lough. Others listed were Benneth Igweh, CP Aina Emmanuel A., CP Salama Wakili Abdul, ACP Dakon Philip Sarpiwefa, and Grace O. Ejiofor.
This decision followed a wireless police message dated March 4, 2025, referencing the outcomes of an Extraordinary Meeting of the Police Service Commission (PSC) held on February 20, 2025.
SaharaReporters had previously reported that Owohunwa was considered a key rival to the current IGP and a threat to his continued leadership. The retirement came after Owohunwa failed to secure promotion to Deputy Inspector General (DIG), with the PSC declining his elevation.
Controversy also surrounds IGP Kayode Egbetokun himself, who has faced internal criticism for remaining in office beyond the statutory retirement age of 60. While he enforced retirement policies on others, some police insiders questioned why he had not stepped aside.
According to sources within the presidency, Egbetokun narrowly avoided being removed from office and reportedly credited his survival to the intervention of First Lady Remi Tinubu, with whom he is said to have close ties.
“The IGP almost lost his job, but the First Lady intervened,” a senior government source was quoted as saying. “Now, he is more confident than ever and is making strategic moves to secure his position.”
Police sources said the IGP had, in February, ordered the replacement of officers implicated in age falsification and other infractions. A previously published list included 467 officers, among them Lough and Igweh.
The mass retirements stemmed from PSC directives mandating the exit of officers who had reached the mandatory 60 years of age or 35 years in service, in accordance with public service rules.
Simon Lough, the former lead police prosecutor, alleged that his forced retirement resulted from his refusal to join a plot against Owohunwa’s possible emergence as the next IGP. He claimed powerful individuals within the Force, backed by wealthy criminal suspects he was prosecuting, orchestrated his removal.
Lough warned that the forced exits of senior officers, including those with ongoing sensitive prosecutions, could compromise major corruption and financial crime cases.
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