The National Industrial Court of Nigeria has ordered the Police Service Commission, the Nigeria Police Force and the Inspector-General of Police to deploy legally qualified police officers to every police division across the country to promote human rights compliance.
The order was contained in a judgment delivered on July 10, 2026, by the Abuja Judicial Division of the court in a suit filed by the Nigerian Bar Association against the PSC, the Nigeria Police Force and four other defendants.
The suit, marked NICN/ABJ/264/2025, was instituted by the NBA through its Section on Public Interest and Development Law to seek judicial interpretation and enforcement of provisions of the Police Act, 2020 and the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023.
NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN), in a statement on the judgment on Sunday, said the court upheld substantial parts of the association’s claims and made declarations aimed at strengthening legal oversight within the police.
According to Osigwe, the court declared that police officers who are legal practitioners but have not been appointed or upgraded as legal officers cannot perform the functions of legal officers in the Nigeria Police Force, except in criminal prosecutions permitted by law.
