January 9, 2026 | SUNTV Global Channel | News
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, is facing the real possibility of being committed to prison following allegations that he deliberately disobeyed subsisting orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja, over the abduction and disappearance of a Lagos resident, John Chukwuemeka Anozie.
A lawyer representing Anozie’s wife, Mrs. Nnenna Anozie, Vincent Adodo, has initiated contempt proceedings against the IGP, accusing him of persistent refusal to comply with a court judgment directing the prosecution of former operatives of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) allegedly involved in Anozie’s abduction.
Anozie was reportedly abducted from his Lekki residence in Lagos on June 15, 2017, by officers attached to the SARS unit in Akwuzu, Anambra State, and has remained missing since then.
In a judgment delivered on September 24, 2025, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a Freedom of Information suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/865/2025, ordered the IGP to produce the indicted officers for prosecution. The suit was filed by Mrs. Anozie after repeated efforts to obtain investigation reports from the police proved unsuccessful.
The court noted that the IGP failed to file any defence in the matter and ruled that the police authorities had unjustifiably refused to prosecute the officers, despite an internal legal opinion from the police legal department recommending criminal charges against them.
Justice Nyako also ordered the IGP to forward the investigation report and the police legal opinion to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation for necessary action. In addition, the court awarded ₦2 million in damages against the IGP for failing to respond to requests for information on the case.
The officers listed in the judgment include:
- ASP Anthony Obiozor Ikechukwu
- Sgt. Uzochukwu Emeana
- John Eze
- Oriole (aka T-Boy)
- SP Sunday Okpe
Despite being served with the court judgment since October 2025, the IGP has neither prosecuted the officers nor paid the damages awarded to Anozie’s wife.
As a result, Anozie’s lawyer caused the issuance and service of Form 48 (Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to Court Order) and Form 49 (Notice of Committal to Correctional Centre) on the IGP.
Court documents show that a motion has now been filed, seeking an order committing the IGP to prison until he fully complies with the court’s directives.
The Form 49 specifically directs the IGP to “show cause why an order to commit you to prison or correctional centre should not be made” for disobeying the judgment delivered on September 24, 2025.
The court had also ordered the immediate release of certified true copies of the investigation reports, the 2017 X-Squad case file on Anozie’s disappearance, and the legal opinion recommending prosecution, as well as the transmission of the full case file to the Attorney General of the Federation.
The contempt proceedings have been fixed for hearing on February 9, 2026, raising fresh questions about accountability, police reform, and respect for the rule of law at the highest levels of Nigeria’s security architecture.
— SUNTV Global Channel
