Headlines
Extra-Judicial Killings: Police Now to Work Eight Hours Daily
The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has directed that policemen across the country work eight hours daily to curtail work-related stress to reduce the misuse of firearms and extra judicial killings.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the shift duty structure of the Nigeria police is currently a 12-hour, two shifts system against the eight hours three shift standard.
Mr Adamu gave the directive at the opening of a two-day Conference of Heads of Police Medical Facilities on Thursday in Abuja.
The theme of the conference is: ‘Stay Healthy To Secure the Nation’.
“I have ordered that with immediate effect, the shift duty structure of the Nigeria police which is currently a 12-hour, two-shifts system should be reverted to the traditional eight-hours, three-shift standard.
“For purpose of clarity, henceforth, no personnel should be made to perform any duty exceeding 8-hours within a space of 24 hours unless there is local or national emergency,” he said.
He said that this new system would reduce cases of misuse of firearms and other misconduct by policemen which is caused by stress.
The police boss said the only time the duty structure would exceed eight hours was during local or national emergency.
Mr Adamu said policing was a highly demanding job physically, mentally and psychologically, required a good state of mind.
He explained that the directive was specifically given to address a major age-long occupational stress which long hours of duty engenders among personnel of the police.
Mr Adamu urged the police medical services to complete the leadership of the force by striving to guarantee a healthy work life of officers.
He charged personnel of the unit to continue to discharge their duty with high sense of commitment and responsibility.
Earlier, Obembe Modupe, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Force Medical, said there was a need to evaluate the mental conditions of candidates during recruitment.
She also called for mandatory, periodic and regular assessment of the health resilience of officers during training and while in service.
Mr Modupe said this measures would reduce the prevalence of sudden deaths and misuse of firearms contrary to section 237 of the Police Act and Regulation.
He said there was also the need for continued capacity training for officers for improved healthcare services.
(NAN)
President Bola Tinubu has approved the posting of four ambassador-designates out of the 68 confirmed by the Senate last December.
The approvals were conveyed in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, dated January 22, 2024.
According to the statement, Ambassador Ayodele Oke has been posted as ambassador-designate to France, while Colonel Lateef Are has been posted as ambassador-designate to the United States of America.
Also confirmed by the President is the posting of Ambassador Amin Dalhatu, former ambassador to South Korea, as the high commissioner-designate to the United Kingdom.
Usman Isa Dakingari Suleiman, former governor of Kebbi, is the ambassador-designate to Turkey, where the President is scheduled to begin a state visit next week.
In a memo to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Tinubu urged the ministry to notify the governments of the four countries about the ambassador-designates, in accordance with diplomatic procedures.
The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, has declined to set up a judicial panel to investigate Governor Siminalayi Fubara, citing a court order.
The Rivers State House of Assembly had requested that Amadi set up a seven-member panel to probe Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, over allegations of gross misconduct.
However, in a letter dated January 20 and addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, the chief judge cited two court orders barring him from receiving, forwarding, or considering any requests to form such a panel.
The judge stated that the orders were served on his office on January 16, 2026 and remain in force.
The chief judge emphasised that constitutionalism and the rule of law require all authorities to obey subsisting court orders, irrespective of their perception of the orders’ validity.
He referenced legal precedents, noting that in a similar case in 2007, the Chief Judge of Kwara State was condemned for ignoring a restraining court order when setting up an investigative panel, a decision later voided by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Amadi further observed that the Speaker has already filed an appeal against the court orders at the Court of Appeal, adding another layer to the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the allegations.
“By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” he said.
Justice Amadi further stated that the existence of the injunctions and the pending appeal had effectively tied his hands.
“In view of the foregoing, my hand is fettered, as there are subsisting interim orders of injunction and appeal against the said orders. I am therefore legally disabled at this point from exercising my duties under Section 188(5) of the Constitution in the instant,” he said.
The chief judge appealed to the lawmakers to recognise the legal constraints surrounding the matter.
Justice Amadi, therefore, urged the state assembly to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has reportedly affirmed the removal of Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party, LP.
The Court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognize the Senator Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the party’s lawful leadership.
The development was disclosed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, in a post on X, where he said he was present at the Federal High Court when the judgment was delivered in a related case.
Effiong stated that Justice Lifu delivering judgment on Wednesday, upheld the Nenadi Usman-led committee as the only valid and lawful leadership of the Labour Party, reaffirming that Abure’s tenure had elapsed in line with an earlier Supreme Court judgment.
The court consequently directed INEC to immediately recognize Nenadi Usman as the party’s leader.
He wrote: “I am currently before the Federal High Court in Abuja for a case. I listened to judgement delivered in an another case.
“Honourable Justice Lifu has just upheld Senator Nnadi Esther Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the only valid and lawful leadership of the Labour Party.
“The Judge reaffirmed that by the Supreme Court’s judgement, Julius Abure’s tenure had since elapsed.
