Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Magistrate Court in Ilorin has ordered the immediate arrest of the Kwara State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abbas Mohammed, after he failed to comply with multiple court directives requiring him to produce two of his officers for trial in an assault case. The presiding judge, Chief Magistrate Adebayo Dupe, issued the arrest order on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, instructing the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, to apprehend the senior security chief and present him before the court on the next adjourned date of June 10, 2026. The ruling stems from a criminal complaint filed by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ilorin Branch, which accused two officers—Ajayi Williams Gbolahan and Busari Babatunde—of physically assaulting a lawyer, Barrister Aladodo Abdullateef Nurudeen, while he was at the NSCDC office on legal business. However, the court's ire has now shifted to the commanding officer after the commandant repeatedly failed to comply with court directives to produce the accused officers and appear personally, leading to the contempt hearing.
The assault incident occurred at the NSCDC office in Ilorin on April 10, 2026. According to the direct criminal complaint, dated April 14, 2026, and signed by NBA Secretary Barrister Dauda Jimoh, the lawyer visited the NSCDC facility in his professional capacity to attend to a client. While standing under a tree near his vehicle, he was allegedly confronted and physically assaulted by the two officers despite identifying himself as a legal practitioner. The complaint alleged that the officers, along with other personnel, dragged the lawyer into a room where he was “further brutalized and seriously assaulted”. The NBA described the attack as “unprovoked” and a “blatant abuse of power,” noting that the lawyer sustained “injuries and humiliation” as a result. In a particularly damning assertion, the legal association also alleged that the state NSCDC commandant, Abbas Mohammed, was present during the incident but failed to intervene or address the situation. The complaint invoked Sections 246 (assault), 265 (criminal intimidation), and 396 (insult and annoyance) of the Penal Code Law.
The legal case had already been advancing slowly. At a previous hearing, the prosecution—led by Prof. D.A. Ariyo-Osu—informed the court that the NSCDC commandant had failed to obey an earlier court directive to produce the accused officers. The prosecution subsequently applied for a warrant of arrest against the officers and sought a summons compelling the commandant to appear. At that stage, counsel for the NSCDC, M.M. Kolo, apologized for the commandant's absence. He told the court that one of the officers, Ajayi Gbolahan, had been officially identified but had allegedly “absconded after disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him.” The second officer, Busari Babatunde, he added, “could not be officially identified”.
When the case was called up again, however, the commandant still did not appear. Instead, counsel for the NSCDC officers, Barrister A. Imam, informed the court that the command had petitioned the office of the Kwara State Chief Judge for a reassignment of the case, citing “a loss of confidence in the court handling the matter”. This assertion effectively accused the sitting magistrate of bias, a move the prosecution clearly saw as a delaying tactic. In her brief ruling, Chief Magistrate Dupe dismissed the petition for reassignment as no ground to excuse the commandant's defiance of court orders. “The commandant’s actions are contemptuous and disrespectful,” Ariyo-Osu had argued, adding that he had “ignored both the order to produce the defendants and the order directing him to appear before this honourable court”. The court proceeded to issue the arrest warrant, setting the matter down for June 10.
Following the latest proceedings, the Kwara State Police Command has been formally directed to execute the arrest warrant. The case has drawn considerable attention within legal circles, given that it not only involves a direct criminal complaint by the Bar Association against law enforcement officers but has now escalated into a direct confrontation between the judiciary and the head of a federal security agency in the state.
For the lawyer who allegedly suffered the assault, the arrest order represents a turn of events that forces the state's top security officer to answer for his command. For the police, executing a bench warrant against a fellow security chief is an unusual test of inter-agency cooperation. Meanwhile, the senior security chief currently has a choice: either present himself or risk a potentially embarrassing arrest.
As the June 10 hearing approaches, the case will continue to be a closely-watched test of whether security chiefs are truly accountable to the courts.
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