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• Court: We can’t restrain execution of our own judgment
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Industrial Court (NIC), Abuja, has vacated its order stopping the reinstatement of 455 senior police officers, including Commissioners of Police Benneth Igwe and Simon Lough and Assistant Inspector-General of Police Idowu Owohunwa, who were earlier retired from service.
Justice Buhari Sani, in his ruling, held that the court ought not to have granted the ex parte order of September 22 because it did not have adequate information before it at the time.
He explained that the court initially intervened to preserve the subject matter of the dispute, but subsequently discovered that the police authorities were not merely taking an administrative decision, but implementing a subsisting judgment delivered by the court in 2025 and affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
“If the decision complained of is the execution of a valid, subsisting judgment, the court cannot restrain its implementation as if it were an unlawful administrative act. To do so would be to set the court against its own judgment,” Justice Sani held.
The judge, whose vacation sitting has ended, directed that the case be returned for reassignment, with the parties to be served a fresh hearing date.
The ex parte order had been obtained by Advocacy for Human Rights and Cultural Values for Development Initiative against the Inspector-General of Police, Attorney-General of the Federation and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The organisation challenged the implementation of earlier judgments reinstating the affected officers, who had already commenced a refresher course preparatory to their return to service. The 455 officers range from Chief Superintendents of Police to Assistant Commissioners of Police.
Counsel to the affected officers, Gordy Uche (SAN), argued that the NGO’s ex parte application amounted to an abuse of court process and had disrupted the training of the officers.
He consequently demanded N1 billion in damages.
Counsel to the NGO, Yunusa Abdulsalam (SAN), however, opposed the application, arguing that the court had merely restrained the police pending the hearing of the other parties.
He contended that it would be wrong, after hearing the parties, to proceed further by setting aside the order or awarding damages.
Abdulsalam also argued that the issue relating to Section 18(8) of the Police Act was not determined in the earlier judgment.
The affected officers are members of Cadet ASP Courses 18, 19 and 20, who entered the Force directly.
In suit number NICN/ABJ/345/2019, filed on their behalf by ACP Ambrose Emengaha, ACP Victor Odeme Chilaka, ACP Egwu Otu, CSP Sylvester Robinson Ebosele, CSP Asuquo Inyang, CSP Kalu Chikezie and CSP Adetu Omoteso, they challenged their compulsory retirement before attaining the statutory retirement age of 60.
On September 30, 2025, Justice R.B. Haastrup ordered their reinstatement and restrained the authorities from further unlawfully retiring officers who had not attained the mandatory retirement age.
The Police Service Commission (PSC) appealed the judgment in appeal number CA/AB/PRE/CV/1829MI/2025, but the Court of Appeal affirmed the decision.
The appellate court held that implementation of the judgment by the Inspector-General of Police and Force Secretary, through the recall of the officers, had created rights in favour of numerous officers who were not parties to the appeal.
Delivering the lead judgment on April 14, 2026, Justice Adebukola Banjoko held that setting aside the judgment at that stage “would prejudice third-party rights, disrupt settled expectations, and undermine administrative stability.”
The court added that judicial intervention must favour certainty and stability in public administration.
The first headline gives the abduction story the strongest news hook, while the second makes the NIC’s decision and its legal basis immediately clear.
