Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, Mr. Moses Ambakina Jitoboh, (Rtd.), sued the Police Service Commission, PSC, alleging forceful retirement from the Nigeria Police Force, NPF.
Jitoboh as you read this, has approached the National Industrial Court in Abuja, alleging that he was compulsorily retired by the Police Service Commission, PSC, even though he has not clocked the 60 years mandatory retirement age or reached 35 years in service.
He told the court that the PSC compulsorily retired him and three others on the ground that it was upholding the police tradition of retiring senior officers when their junior is promoted over them, to avoid what it termed as “status reversal”.
The claimant maintained that his purported compulsory retirement was done in breach of Rule 020810 of the Public Service Rules as well as Section 18 (8) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.
He is, therefore, praying the court to not only declare his compulsory retirement as wrongful, but to also issue an order, directing the PSC to pay the sum of N500million as general damages for the abrupt termination of his employment, which he said portrayed him as a disloyal officer.
“An order of this Honorable Court (NIC) setting aside the purported compulsory retirement of the claimant as Deputy Inspector-General of Police on the 25th day of August, 2023 by the Defendant.”
As well as, “an order setting aside all the unlawful and embarrassing decisions taken by the defendant (PSC), including the retirement of the claimant and the promotion of another to replace the claimant, same having been done unlawfully and illegally.”
He further prayed the court to compel the defendant to pay him the sum of N50m as the cost of prosecuting the action.
In his statement of claims, DIG Jitoboh maintained that he remains an officer of the NPF until June 10, 2029, when he would have attained 35 years in service.
