Retirement blues: Age falsification rocks Nigeria police 

The desire to remain in service far beyond the time stipulated by the authorities is at the heart of an upsurge in the number of police officers accused by police authorities of falsifying their age to make them far younger than the date on their actual birth records.

Recently, Save The Soul Transparency and Eagle Eyes International Foundation, two non-governmental organisations, were reported to have formally petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun,  demanding an investigation into allegations against CP Ohiozoba Oyakhire Ehiede, the current Head of Legal Services at the Nigeria Police Force.

According to the petitions,  CP Ehiede allegedly falsified his service records.

One of the petitions, signed by the foundation’s Secretary, Mr. Josia Agim, and presented to journalists in Kaduna two weeks ago, accused CP Ehiede of changing his date of birth from April 18, 1965, to September 18, 1965, with the intent to postpone his retirement.

In a similar vein,  a separate petition signed by the National Coordinator of the NGO, Mr. Bolaji Mustapha, and shared with journalists in Abuja, it was alleged that CP Ehiede falsified his service records and altered his date of birth to delay his retirement.

Agim’s allegations maintained that CP Ehiede altered his date of birth in a move to postpone his retirement. This action is said to constitute a serious breach of rule 100402(a) of the Public Service Rules 202.

The foundation’s checks reportedly discovered that in November 2017, CP Ehiede’s official records put his date of birth as April 18, 1965, setting his retirement date for April 18, 2025.

According to the Foundation, these details were intact as of August 2023. However, following his promotion to Commissioner of Police in August 2024, the records were allegedly tampered with to reflect a new date of birth—September 18, 1965—thereby affecting his retirement timeline.

“This inconsistency is a serious issue, especially given the recent actions taken against other officers implicated in similar acts, such as AIG Abdul Yari and CP Aina Emmanuel,” Agim said.

He appealed to the IGP

to launch an investigation into the matter and to ensure that CP Ehiede is held accountable  for any wrongdoing. The secretary emphasized  that accountability must apply to all members of the Nigeria Police Force, regardless of rank, to preserve the force’s integrity.

“This change extended his retirement date from April 18, 2025, to September 18, 2025,” Mustapha  stated.

He also  maintained that although the police have disciplined other officers for comparable violations, Ehiede’s role as head of the legal department makes his alleged misconduct specially troubling.

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Recall that on September 10, 2024, the Police officially promoted eight Commissioners of Police to the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG). Additionally, 15 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCs) were  moved  to the substantive rank of Commissioner of Police (CP).

A statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi,  showed  that Egbetokun directed the posting of the newly promoted officers to various commands and formations across the country.

Among those that benefited from the  promotion from Deputy Commissioner of Police to Commissioner of Police was CP Ohiozoba Ehiede.

Recall that  Ehiede’s predecessor as Head of Police Force Legal Department, Simon Lough (SAN), along with several other senior officers, were booted out of the police force  on the heels of  a scandal involving forgery, court deception, and age falsification.

Recently the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, it could be recalled, had taken a legal action by filing a 14-count criminal charge against several retired senior police officers. Among those affected by the charge  is retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Lough, the former Head of the Legal Department of the Nigeria Police Force.

Also mentioned  in the suit are former Assistant Inspector-General of Police Idowu Owohunwa, together with  former Commissioners of Police Bennet Igweh and Ukachi Peter Opara, all facing allegations of age falsification and forgery.

The charges were allegedly filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja under suit number CR/353/25. Retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Obo Ukam Obo is also listed as a defendant in the case.

Several other suspects said  to be involved in the alleged offences are yet to be apprehended and remain at large.

The court filings allegedly revealed that the accused, all former members of the Nigeria Police Force enlisted around 1999, are said to have forged official police signals and used them to manipulate their records.

One such document with signal number DTO 221535/05/89, reportedly issued from NIGPOL Admin Lagos to the Commandant of the Police Academy in Kaduna, was also cited as a key piece of forged evidence used in the alleged scheme.

Some of the charges read: “That you AIG Idowu Owohunwa (Rtd) (2) CP Bennet Igweh (Rtd) (3) CP Ukachi Peter Opara (Rtd) (4) DCP Obo Ukam Obo (Rtd) (5) ACP Simon A. Lough SAN (Rtd) and others, who are now at large, being members of force entrants of the Nigeria Police Force on or about 1999 till date in FCT Abuja, which is within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court committed the offence of conspiracy with intent to commit criminal offence punishable under Section 97 (1) (2) of the Penal Code Law…

Hearing is yet to begin in the suit.

Speaking on the issue, a legal practitioner, Bolaji Useni, SAN, told Business Hallmark that “Here in my small village in Kogi State, the poor market woman knows that it’s an offence to falsify a document. Any unauthorized alteration of official documents is an offence in law, not to mention law enforcement officers being involved in such illegality. It shows how low we have sunk and how far public officials can go to flout the law in the name of opportunism and impunity. If you ask me, all officers involved should be made to face the music.”

Also, the President of the Yoruba Youth Agenda, a socio-cultural group, Otunba Kingsley Adeyemi Adejumo, told this medium that “This is an irony, an uncanny irony at the highest level. How can law enforcement officers be involved in this kind of shenanigans just because they don’t want to retire? One thing that stands out is poor oversight and lack of diligence, otherwise, the police authorities ought to have discovered this a long time ago, and not wait for a civil society to point this out.”

He condemned public officials, who are interested in their personal gains to the extent that they are prepared to flout rules and the law.”

Also speaking, Seyi Odetola, a London- based lawyer and analyst, told Business Hallmark that “the police have a culture of covering one another, but in this matter, it will be difficult to cover it because of some of the dramatis personae are allegedly linked to an ambition to become an inspector general too. At least one of the accused was alleged to have that ambition until he was forced out.”