A 79-year-old businesswoman, Colleen Yesufu, has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order to compel the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to withdraw police officers attached to private citizens.
Yesufu’s suit, filed through her lawyer, Maxwell Opara, also seeks an injunction injunction barring the IGP from assigning the police escorts to private individuals, specifically police protection provided to Mrs Bilikisu Aliyu alias Rebecca Omokamo Godwin Isaac.
The lawsuit names President Bola Tinubu, the IGP, Aliyu, the National Police Council, and the Nigeria Police Force as respondents.
Yesufu’s petition is based on President Tinubu’s November 2023 directive ordering the withdrawal of police escorts from individuals not statutorily entitled to such services. According to Yesufu, while the police initially issued a public statement confirming compliance with the directive, the IGP has allegedly failed to enforce it fully.
She claims that Aliyu, a private citizen, continues to enjoy police protection, which she allegedly uses to evade lawful invitations from agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Yesufu further alleges that Aliyu uses the officers to intimidate and harass her.
In her suit, Yesufu asks the court to declare Tinubu’s directive valid and binding, and to direct the IGP to withdraw all police escorts from Aliyu and other private individuals who are not legally entitled to such services.
Yesufu also seeks a perpetual injunction to prevent the police from reassigning officers as VIP escorts to any private individual in the future.
At the time of filing this report, the case had not been assigned to a judge.
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