The news of the unceremonious exit of former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, reached us today within the premises of the Federal High Court, Abuja, while we were defending one of the many frivolous criminal charges instituted by the Nigeria Police against Omoyele Sowore .
At first, the information was received with disbelief. Now that it has been officially confirmed, it reinforces an unavoidable lesson in public service: power is transient.
During his tenure, Mr. Egbetokun chose the path of power misuse over institutional responsibility. Even when publicly advised to exit office honourably, he clung desperately to authority, converting the Nigeria Police Force into an instrument of personal vendetta and political persecution.
Rather than strengthening professionalism within the Force, the machinery of state power was repeatedly deployed against dissent. Teargas, intimidation, harassment, and politically motivated prosecutions became routine tools used against Sowore and other dissenting voices.
In one of his most consequential miscalculations, he enlisted the commissioner of police in Lagos to declare Sowore wanted, an ill-conceived proxy fight that ultimately backfired both legally and institutionally. That one has been left alone in the cold now, for not knowing how to say no to an invitation to inherit an enemy that is not his.
Today, history records an irony too striking to ignore: a serving Inspector-General of Police leaving office under the shadow of a ₦30 million court-ordered liability, arising from unlawful actions taken while in office.
Of all the legacies an Inspector-General could leave behind, a judicial debt stands as perhaps the most symbolic commentary on a tenure marked by excesses of power.
There are lessons here for the new Inspector-General, for all police officers still in service, and indeed for all persons entrusted with law enforcement in Nigeria. Public office demands restraint, wisdom, respect for other human beings and their dignity.
The moment authority is converted to a weapon against citizens, the clock of reckoning begins to tick and the day of reckoning begins its journey, it will certainly come, sometimes quietly, sometimes suddenly, but always inevitably, it will come.
Tope Temokun
February 24, 2025.
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