Age Falsification: Court Refuses to Order Arrest of Senior Police Officers

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday  turned down the request by the Inspector General (IG) of Police, seeking the order for an arrest of five former senior police officers charged with forgery and age falsification.

The request by prosecution counsel, Rimamsomte Ezekiel, was predicated on the absence of the defendants in court for their scheduled arraignment.

The defendants’ arraignment on a 14 count criminal charge before Justice Halilu Yusuf of the High Court of the FCT, could not take place due to the inability of the police to effect personal service on them.

When  the matter was called, Ezekiel who is an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), expressed disappointment that the defendants were absent in court despite being served with the charge.

He told the court that investigators made several attempts to serve the defendants through their known residential addresses only to discover that they have relocated.

 Ezekiel added that he took extra efforts to send a soft copy of the charge to their Whatsapp platforms and wondered why they were not present in court.

He accordingly asked the court to issue a bench warrant against them in accordance to the provision of section 266(1) of the Administrative of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

This request was, however, opposed by Mr Terkaa Aondo, SAN, who announced his appearance for the defendants.

Aondo told the court that none of the defendants have been served with a copy of the charge.

“My Lord, up till now, the defendants have not been served with a copy of the charge. My Lord, this is not a civil but a criminal matter which requires personal service.

“Besides, until the defendants are proper before the court, the request by the prosecution for a bench warrant is premature. The police have the apparatus to bring the defendants to court. If they can go all the way to arrest Nnamdi Kanu in Kenya and also arrest Omoyele Sowore, why can’t they arrest the defendants and bring them to court? So, I urge the court to refuse the request and order the prosecution to do the needful,” Aondo submitted

Responding, the court agreed with the senior lawyer that the matter being a criminal charge requires personal service on the defendants.

Justice Yusuf equally agreed that the police have all the apparatus to arrest and bring the defendants to court for their arraignment.

“You granted them bail on self recognizance. It is still your responsibility to present the defendants in court for the court to take them in custody. 

“You are the prosecutor. You should do all within your powers to ensure that the defendants attend court on the next adjourned date for arraignment,” the judge ruled.

He equally directed the defence counsel to ensure the appearance of the defendants in court for their arraignment.

The judge subsequently adjourned the matter to November 17 for the arraignment of the defendants.

The five ex-senior police officers in the charge filed by the IG include: AIG Idowu Owohunwa (Rtd), CP Benneth Igweh (Rtd), CP Ukachi Peter Opara (Rtd), DCP Obo Ukam Obo (Rtd), and ACP Simon A. Lough SAN (Rtd).

They were in the charge marked: CR/353/2025, accused of conspiracy, age falsification and forgery, amongst others.

Some of the counts read: That you, AIG Idowu Owohunwa (Rtd), CP Benneth Igweh (Rtd), CP Ukachi Peter Opara (Rtd), DCP Obo Ukam Obo (Rtd), 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, committed the offence of conspiracy with intent to commit criminal offence punishable under Section 97 (1) (2) of the Penal Code Law.

“That you AIG Idowu Owohunwa, (Rtd), CP Benneth Igweh (Rtd), CP Ukachi Peter Opara (Rtd), DCP Obo Ukam Obo (Rtd), ACP Simon A. Lough SAN (Rtd) and others who are now at large, who are members of force entrants of the Nigeria Police Force on or till January, 2025 in FCT Abuja, falsified and altered your ages and documents in the name of Nigeria Police Force in which you failed and could not vacate from office when you supposed to leave on retirement in line with Public Service Rule of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, remained and illegally benefited the privileges of your office and thereby committed offence of cheating, and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code Law.