DISMISSED POLICEMEN COMPLAIN OVER NON-REINSTATEMENT DESPITE COURT RULING
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By: Balogun Ibrahim
Five policemen from Akwa Ibom State, reportedly wrongfully dismissed from service in 2007, have appealed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Aniekan Bassey for intervention.
They also urged other National Assembly members from the state to recognize their plight and ensure their reinstatement, along with the payment of arrears of salaries and other allowances owed since 2007.
The affected officers—Sunday Okon, Anthony Ebong, Joseph Ede, Victor Ibe, and Uduak Sampson—joined the police force in 2003 through their trade professions but were dismissed just four years later on the grounds of illiteracy, despite having undergone training and being certified for their roles.
Speaking with our correspondent in Uyo on Wednesday, the officers’ spokesman, Victor Ibe, said that after multiple appeals that went unheeded, they took the matter to court, which ordered their reinstatement in 2019.
He said, “We were forced to drag the NPF and Police Service Commission to the National Industrial Court in suit No. NICN/UY/08/2018, having exhausted all the channels to plead for our reinstatement.
“The court, in 2019, ruled in our favour, declaring the purported disengagement null and void and ordered that we should be reinstated into the ranks we would have been but for the dismissal. The court also ordered that all arrears of our salaries and allowances be paid to us.
“So we are pleading with our Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and the Senate representing Uyo senatorial district, Senator Aniekan Bassey and other National Assembly members to come to our aid.”
According to a Certified True Copy of the judgment obtained by our correspondent in Uyo, Justice M. A. Namtari ruled, “Accordingly, the claimants’ case succeeds as follows: It is hereby declared that the dismissal of the claimants by the defendants from the Nigeria Police Force, without adherence to service rules and due process, is unlawful and unjustified.”
“The defendants are hereby ordered to immediately reinstate the claimants into the Nigeria Police Force at the ranks they would have attained but for their unlawful dismissal.
“The defendants are further directed to pay each claimant all salaries, allowances, and other entitlements from January 2007 until the date of their reinstatement into the Nigeria Police Force.
“This judgment must be complied with within 90 days from today. Judgment entered accordingly. No order as to costs,” the court ruled.
However, Ibe lamented that seven years after the ruling, the court’s directives remain unimplemented, despite repeated correspondence with successive Inspectors General of Police and the Police Service Commission.
He expressed frustration over their prolonged struggle for justice, noting that efforts to enforce compliance with the PSC have been unsuccessful. He recalled that former Senator Bassey Albert had raised their case on the Senate floor, yet no action was taken, while some of their colleagues with influential connections were reinstated.
Describing the hardship and the difficulty of securing other employment, Ibe said, “Life has been extremely hard for us. It is by the grace of God that we are still alive; many of our colleagues have passed away during the litigation process. We are not illiterate—we can read and write. Moreover, we were employed based on trade tests as specialists.”
“We are appealing to our respected leaders—Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senator Aniekan Bassey, Hon. Clement Jimbo, Mark Esset, and all our lawmakers in the National Assembly—to come to our aid. All we seek is for the Police Service Commission to comply with the court order, as the case was never appealed,” Ibe said.
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