According to the judgment, the deployment is intended to strengthen legal oversight within the Force and improve the protection of human rights during arrests, detention, investigations and other policing activities.
The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has barred police officers who are not employed in the Nigeria Police Force's Specialist Legal Cadre from representing the Force in civil proceedings, declaring that such practice is inconsistent with existing legal and professional regulations.
In the same judgment, the court ordered the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to deploy at least one police lawyer to every police station across Nigeria to strengthen legal oversight and improve compliance with human rights standards in policing.
The judgment was delivered on Friday by Justice O. Y. Anuwe in the suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) against the Police Service Commission and five other defendants in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/264/2025.
The case was prosecuted by the NBA's Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) Public Interest Litigation Committee, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olukunle O. Edun.
