Carnage unleashed on police officers’ hierarchy
When the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, suddenly resigned last week and was immediately replaced by Olatunji Disu, Assistant Inspector General (AIG), to act as IGP pending confirmation by the Nigerian Police Council, many issues came to the fore, agitating the mind. No, it’s not whether a Lagos boy has departed for another […]
When the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, suddenly resigned last week and was immediately replaced by Olatunji Disu, Assistant Inspector General (AIG), to act as IGP pending confirmation by the Nigerian Police Council, many issues came to the fore, agitating the mind. No, it’s not whether a Lagos boy has departed for another Lagos boy to pick up the gauntlet, or whether the two of them have worked with President Bola Tinubu when he was Governor of Lagos State. Egbetokun was the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Governor Tinubu, while Disu served as his Aide-de-Camp (ADC).
We have now become accustomed and apathetic to the pattern of these appointments, which his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, manifestly established. However, as the appointment of IGP Disu was made by the president, going down to the rank of AIG and side-stepping the Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs), there is a distinct possibility that the careers of those above him will be put in jeopardy. Our concern is that the number of those senior to Disu is quite a handful, and removing them abruptly from the system could deprive the police force of their varied experiences, especially as they are now at the peak of their careers.
We have railed against this when President Buhari made it a habit of disorganising the top, particularly of the military hierarchy, by making appointments to the top with officers who were two steps down the line. Once this kind of appointment is made, the officers above the rank of the lucky appointee must turn in their commissions and retire from the service, whether their time was up or not. This is because there is a quaint tradition in the armed forces that officers do not salute their peers. It would have been a grave injustice to make them salute their junior, even if catapulted to a command position.
Surprisingly, it was the presidents Obasanjo and Buhari, who were once military heads of state and commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, who were the most disruptive in this regard. Readers might recall that upon assuming office as the first president of this Fourth Republic, Obasanjo sacked close to 100 officers across the armed forces, ostensibly for having a record of participating in a coup or benefiting from it through appointment to political office as ministers or governors. Thereafter, his successor, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, also sent out 40 more generals who were said to have reached their retirement age.
Upon assuming office three years ago, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu also unleashed the same kind of disruption in the armed forces’ hierarchy by making appointments to the top ranks without taking cognisance of the pecking order. More than 100 generals were said to have been suddenly dislodged from their perches. Two years later, in October 2025, President Tinubu revisited the top ranks of the armed forces with a similar shake-up, resulting in the untimely departure of more than 60 generals.
Now it is this kind of disruption that is at the doorstep of the police force. Already, people are going to town with speculations that 29 DIGs and AIGs senior to Disu are going to be affected. This would be a massive loss to a force that is famously short-staffed. Not only that, but the officers who would be disengaged would exit with accumulated years of experience and know-how, thereby draining the institutional memory of the force.
Nonetheless, I have not yet seen anyone disputing the credentials of Olatunji Disu for the top cop post. Those acquainted with the forces would know that to become an ADC at a point in one’s career, that person must have been primus inter pares, a first among his peers. To be selected to perform the ADC’s role, Disu must have scored superlatives both in character and physique. In addition, one would note that even after the ADC’s role, his scorecard has remained the same.
Whether as Commander of the Lagos Rapid Response Squad, as Commissioner of Police in Rivers State and the FCT, or in his last posting as AIG at the Force Criminal Investigation Department Annex, the accolades have been unremitting. Besides, he comes across as unusual in the force that is viewed as stiff-necked. There is a literary bent about him as he loves to communicate on social media, putting his BA (English Education) to good use. He is also a medal-winning judoka, and I guess those working with him must keep a wary eye on his temper or else.
However, it is gladdening to note that President Tinubu has anticipated the furore that would arise if those senior to Disu were compulsorily retired and has decreed that, henceforth, this will not be the case. I suppose the president is avoiding the mess that arose last time, when Egbetokun was appointed IGP and five DIGs senior to him were compulsorily retired by the Police Service Commission. One of them, DIG Moses Jitoboh, went to the National Industrial Court and won the case against the government.
Still, I regard the president’s intervention as a pyrrhic victory of sorts to those who have lost out. In the end, they might have to bow out to preserve their dignity.