The police picked Aig, CPS, others in court for an alleged falsification of age

The Nigerian police forces presented a criminal accusation of 14 counts against five retired high officers, accusing them of falsifying their age records to illegally extend their years of service.

The police inspector general, Kayode Egbetokun, established the case before judge Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the territory of the federal capital, Abuja, with the arraignment set for Thursday 25 September 2025.

Those listed in the debit sheet include the retired police inspector, Idowu Owohunwa; Police -retired commissioners, Benneth Igwe and Ukachi opara; Deputy Pension Commissioner, Obo Obo OBO OBO; and retired police commissioner assistant, Simon Lough. The court documents also mentioned “others in general”.

According to the accusations, Owohunwa would have modified his declaration of age in December 2024 to reflect on 20 July 1970, instead of his real date of birth. Igwe was accused of falsifying his record to show 1968 as his year of birth instead of 1964, while the inconsistencies were also found in his enrollment documents, which brought 1988 and 1996 as separate entry dates.

The police also stated that Lough tamperized his documents in July 2022, changing his date of birth from May 14, 1967 to 14 May 1969, in violation of the rules of the public service.

Public ministries stated that the alleged crimes contravene sections 97, 161, 366 and 158 of the penal code and are punishable pursuant to the Nigerian law.

However, the officers accused rejected the accusations as fundamental, describing the case as a witch hunt.

They argued that the accusations derived from a petition presented in January 2025 by an organization of civil society, the Integrity Youth Alliance, led by Kelvin Adegbenga, who accused them of manipulating the official registers to extend their years of service.

Following the petition, the police authorities issued questions of serious bad conduct. In his response dated January 16, 2025, Owohunwa admitted that there was a “confusion” in his annual form of performance assessment (open), which erroneously modified his year of birth from 1967 to 1970.

However, he claimed that his official date of August 15, 1996 had never changed.

Likewise, Igwe and Lough denied illegal, insisting on the fact that the signatory had confused their files with the administrative scheme of the Nigeria staff (Ascon) college, which allows career updates that could reflect altered service records.

Despite their defense, the police insisted that the contradictions in their registers were sufficient reasons for the accusation.

The arrangement will be expected to arouse acute interest in the safety clubs, given the stature of the officers involved and the implications for responsibility in force.

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