Police Reinstatement: Nwadike Hails Justice Sani For Vacating Interim Injunction

Dr. Joe Nwadike, a lawyer and Head of Advocates of Fairness, has commended Justice Buhari Sani of the National Industrial Court for vacating an interim injunction that had temporarily halted the reinstatement of retired police officers from Cadet ASP Courses 18, 19 and 20.

Justice Sani had, on September 22, 2026, issued an interim order in Suit No. NICN/KN/51/2026 restraining the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force, the Police Service Commission and other respondents from implementing the reinstatement of the affected officers.

The suit was filed by Advocacy for Human Rights and Cultural Values Development Initiatives. The order temporarily stalled steps being taken by the police authorities to implement the earlier court judgments concerning the officers.

However, reports indicated that Justice Sani, on September 28, vacated the earlier order, clearing the way for the implementation of the reinstatement process.

Reacting to the development in a statement titled, “Espousing the Travesty of Justice,” Nwadike described the vacation of the order as a restoration of judicial consistency and commended the judge for what he called adherence to the rule of law.

The lawyer argued that the September 22 interim injunction had conflicted with previous judgments concerning the retirement and service status of members of Courses 18, 19 and 20 of the Police Academy.

He recalled that Justice R.B. Haastrup of the National Industrial Court, in a judgment delivered on September 30, 2025, set aside the Police Service Commission’s January 31, 2025 retirement directive as it affected the claimants and held that their dates of first appointment were based on their appointments as Force Entrants rather than their earlier enlistment as recruits.

The judgment also restrained the authorities from unlawfully reviewing the affected officers’ dates of appointment and from retiring members of Courses 18, 19 and 20 who had not attained 60 years or completed the applicable 35 years of service.

The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the National Industrial Court’s decision in April 2026 in an appeal filed by the Police Service Commission. Reports on the appellate decision said the court affirmed the lower court’s ruling concerning the retirement of the affected senior police officers.

Nwadike therefore argued that the subsequent suit challenging the implementation of those decisions raised questions about the effect of judgments that had already been affirmed on appeal.

He alleged that the applicant in the fresh suit failed to disclose material facts concerning the earlier judgments when seeking the interim order, describing the development as an abuse of the judicial process.

Nwadike said the vacation of the interim injunction had helped resolve what he described as a conflict in the judicial process and urged the police authorities to comply with the latest ruling.

He specifically called on the Nigeria Police Force to direct the affected officers to return to the Police Staff College, Jos, and the Nigeria Police Institute, Abuja, where they had been undergoing training, or alternatively post them to their respective duties.

The lawyer also urged the police authorities to act with the same speed with which they had initially enforced the September 22 interim order.

Nwadike maintained that the dispute should ultimately be resolved within the established judicial process, particularly in view of the earlier National Industrial Court judgment and the subsequent Court of Appeal decision.

He said Advocates of Fairness welcomed Justice Sani’s latest ruling and called on all parties to respect the decisions of the courts.

The controversy stems from the long-running dispute over the computation of the dates of first appointment of Force Entrants in Courses 18, 19 and 20 of the Police Academy and the consequent retirement of affected senior police officers.

The Court of Appeal’s April 2026 decision followed the September 2025 National Industrial Court judgment involving ACP Chinedu Ambrose Emengaha and other affected officers.