FORMER Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun has revealed that persistent media attacks against his leadership were largely orchestrated by powerful interests resisting reforms he introduced to sanitise the Nigeria Police Force.
News Point Nigeria reports that in a detailed account of his tenure as head of the police, Egbetokun said his administration confronted several entrenched practices within the Force, including widespread falsification of service records by officers seeking to prolong their stay in service.
According to him, his efforts to halt the illegal practices and enforce internal discipline triggered backlash from those affected by the reforms.
Egbetokun disclosed that one of the earliest challenges he faced upon assuming office as Inspector-General of Police was the manipulation of official records by officers attempting to extend their statutory years of service.
He said some officers allegedly paid money to alter their service records, enabling them to remain in the Force beyond the legally permitted retirement period.
The former police chief said his administration took decisive action to halt the practice and investigate those involved.
“I didn’t just stop the practice. We fished out the culprits and forwarded their names to the Police Service Commission for proper disciplinary action, and they were all removed from the system,” Egbetokun said.
The ex-IGP also revealed that another contentious issue during his tenure involved a group of cadet force entrants who sought to remain in service beyond their statutory period.
According to him, the officers relied on a judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria to support their claims.
However, investigations conducted by the police later uncovered serious irregularities in the case.
Egbetokun said the court’s decision was based on a signal purportedly originating from the Office of the Force Secretary and relayed through the Sokoto State Police Command.
Further scrutiny, he said, revealed that the signal was fabricated.
“Our investigation confirmed that no such signal emanated from the Office of the Force Secretary. Even the version said to have been relayed by the Sokoto Command and tendered in court by the group was also found to be fabricated,” he explained.
He added that the findings were subsequently forwarded to the Police Service Commission, which took disciplinary measures against those involved.
Reflecting on his leadership philosophy, Egbetokun said his insistence on internal discipline distinguished his tenure from previous administrations.
He stressed that effective law enforcement cannot be achieved without strict discipline within the ranks of the police.
“We cannot effectively enforce the law if we fail to enforce discipline within our own ranks,” he stated.
The former police boss further alleged that some wealthy individuals affected by the disciplinary measures had sponsored media campaigns to tarnish his reputation.
According to him, fabricated allegations and misleading reports were circulated in the media to undermine his leadership and discredit the reforms he introduced.
He also claimed that opposition to amendments made to the Nigeria Police Act, which enabled him to serve a four-year tenure as Inspector-General, contributed to the attacks against him.
Egbetokun alleged that some senior officers who believed they had a chance of becoming Inspector-General if his reputation was damaged also joined the campaign.
The former IGP additionally accused elements linked to the Take It Back Movement of sustaining negative narratives against him and the police.
According to him, the group associated with organisers of the End Bad Governance protests attempted to mobilise large-scale demonstrations that could destabilise the country.
Egbetokun claimed the organisers had boasted that the protests would surpass the scale of the End SARS protests, and had even referenced the 2024 mass protests in Kenya as an example of what they hoped to replicate in Nigeria.
Despite the tensions surrounding the demonstrations, the former IGP maintained that the police acted within the law to prevent violence and protect national stability.
“We did everything lawful to stop them on the two major occasions and subsequent attempts. Considering the country’s socioeconomic fragility at the time, we believed it was in the overall interest of Nigerians,” he said.
“In spite of the media wars, I remained focused. I am proud of what we achieved to advance policing in Nigeria in the interest of the silent majority of Nigerians,” he said.