HUMAN rights activist and convener of #RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele Sowore, has narrated how the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, ordered his recent arrest and prosecution for calling him an “illegal IGP.”
Sowore said this in a new documentary detailing what he describes as “the abuse of power” by the police chief.
In the documentary, Sowore accuses Egbetokun of being “power-drunk” and using his position to silence critics.
He said the IGP instructed police operatives to target him after he publicly questioned the legitimacy of his stay in office after his due retirement age of 60 years according to the provisions of the law.
Sowore said that Egbetokun became upset when he (Sowore) posted a video on his social media pages exposing police officers on airport road in Lagos state who were extorting motorists.
“He wasn’t upset as I later learned because I was trying to expose his men engaging in corruption. Because that place is a notorious place for extortion, and it has led many Nigerians travelling internationally to miss their flights.
“But he was upset because of last August when our movement, the Take It Back movement was organising #EndBadGovernance protests and he had mentioned that he was expiring on September 4th, and that anything beyond September 4th, I would be against him.”
President Bola Tinubu appointed Egbetokun as the IGP in June 2023 to serve for four years. The IGP was 59 years old at the time of his appointment.
Meanwhile, public service rules mandates retirement at 60 years of age or after 35 years of service, whichever comes first. Hence, Egbetokun was due for retirement on September 4, 2024, but he has remained in office.
The Police Act 2020, Section 18(8), states that every police officer shall serve for a period of 35 years or until reaching the age of 60, whichever comes first, while Section 7(6) specifies that the person appointed to the office of the Inspector-General of Police shall hold office for four years.
Based on this, it was expected that IGP Egbetokun, born on September 4, 1964, would retire upon reaching the age of 60 on September 4, 2024, as mandated by Section 18(8).
In July 2024, the National Assembly passed the Police Act (Amendment) Bill 2024.
This amendment introduces a new subsection, 18(8A), which states: “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (8) of this section, any person appointed to the office of Inspector-General of Police shall remain in office until the end of the term stipulated in the letter of appointment in line with the provisions of Section 7(6) of this Act.”
The amendment clarifies that the IGP is entitled to a four-year tenure, regardless of the general retirement age or years of service limitations.
Sowore said, “His tenure should never be elongated as far as we know because he has retired as a policeman after putting in 35 years into service and having reached 60 years of age.
“Apparently, he had kept a grudge since then. That is the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun. So he was looking for an opportunity since August last year to get at me.
“When I uploaded this extortion video which was detailing my encounter with the police, they started debating how to hunt me down, and for over two weeks, according to information I later got from the police force, they were debating what is right to do, whether to arrest me or invite me and they settled down for a manhunt.
“They claimed that I have been hiding and I was arrested, probably violently. But the information was leaked to the media, so they couldn’t carry that out anymore, and eventually they invited me to come to their office in Abuja.”
Sowore, a well-known critic of the Nigerian government and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has had multiple encounters with law enforcement in recent years.
He emphasized that his latest prosecution by the police is part of a broader effort to stifle dissent and prevent him from exposing what he describes as systemic corruption within the police force and the government.
Despite the threats, he vowed to continue his activism, urging Nigerians to resist what he calls a growing culture of political persecution.
The controversy surrounding Egbetokun’s continued tenure in office despite reaching retirement age has sparked debate, with some questioning its legality.
While the Nigerian government insists that due process has been followed, critics argue that Egbetokun’s continued stay in office as the IGP is politically motivated.
