A Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rita Emesime Oyintare, attached to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, along with operatives working under her, has been accused of acting against the recent directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, regarding the misuse of police power in civil disputes.
The IGP recently declared that the NPF “is not and will never become an enforcer for private interests,” cautioning officers against “meddling in civil claims without demonstrable criminal elements.”
This timely statement, welcomed by many, is now facing a severe challenge from within the FCID.
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) and the Open Society on Justice Reform Project (OSJRP), in a joint petition submitted to the IGP, accused officers of the FCID of persistently harassing Mr Joseph Edeh in a fundamentally civil matter, alleging the officers are acting on behalf of Edeh’s estranged wife.
Mr Edeh is currently involved in multiple pending civil and matrimonial cases across Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu. Compounding the situation is a subsisting order from the Federal High Court directing all parties involved to “maintain status quo ante” pending the resolution of the legal proceedings.
The Executive Director of RULAAC, Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma, referring to the IGP’s statement, said: “What is happening within the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, in the case of Mr Joseph Edeh, stands in embarrassing contradiction to this noble declaration.”
The situation escalated dramatically on November 11, 2025. Officers operating under Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rita Emesime Oyintare issued directives to several banks.
These instructions mandated the freezing of all accounts linked to Mr Edeh, the deactivation of his electronic banking channels, and the imposition of “Post No Debit” restrictions.
Shockingly, the officers also instructed banks to arrest anyone found operating the accounts and hand them over to designated FCID officers.
“This is not only unconstitutional and unlawful; it is the very definition of the ‘private-interest enforcement’ the IGP cautioned against,” the petition stated.
The police reportedly justified their actions by relying on a questionable ex parte order obtained from a Nasarawa State High Court, a jurisdiction the petitioners argue has no connection to the parties or the underlying disputes.
The legal bodies have labelled this move as “classic forum shopping,” an attempt to circumvent the binding order of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Despite the initial engagement with the Deputy Commissioner of Police handling the case by Mr Samuel Akpologun, Director of OSJRP, the police chose to escalate their actions instead of de-escalating the matter.
The fallout of the FCID’s actions is described as severe, including violation of a court order, abuse of police powers, interference with judicial proceedings, and devastating economic harm to Mr Edeh.
RULAAC and OSJRP called on the Police Service Commission and the National Human Rights Commission to intervene decisively.
Both groups demand an immediate halt to all actions against Mr Edeh, compliance with the Federal High Court order, and a thorough investigation into the conduct of the officers involved.
“Nigeria cannot afford a police force that operates by one doctrine in public statements and another in practice. The IGP must ensure that his commendable declaration is not reduced to empty rhetoric,” the petitioners concluded. “A police force that can be hijacked for private vendettas is a danger to every Nigerian.”
