BREAKING: Nigerian Police Launch Roll-Call To Track Officers Supporting July 21 Protest Over Poor Welfare, Pensions

One of the sources, clearly frustrated by what he described as growing repression within the police ranks, added, “My question is, can I refuse to sign? I swear, we are tired of this bad leadership.”

There is a fresh plot by the Nigerian police authorities to crush internal dissent within the Force ahead of a planned nationwide protest slated for July 21, 2025, SaharaReporters has learnt.

Police sources told SaharaReporters on Monday that a secret roll-call initiative is being launched to identify junior officers suspected of supporting the impending public demonstration.

“Our leaders in the Nigeria Police are preparing to send a register from anytime now that each and every police officer must sign in the register before going anywhere, for them to know who is among the protesters,” one of the sources said.

One of the sources, clearly frustrated by what he described as growing repression within the police ranks, added, “My question is, can I refuse to sign? I swear, we are tired of this bad leadership.”

This latest revelation comes barely three days after Inspector Emoruwa Olabode, attached to Idanre Police Station in Ondo State, was arrested for his alleged role in a WhatsApp post related to the same protest. 

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Olabode, along with two other group administrators, was picked up by officers from the State Intelligence Department.

In a latest development on Monday morning, SaharaReporters learned that a team of officers from the Ondo State Commissioner of Police’s office escorted Olabode to Abuja from the SCID in Akure, marking an escalation in the crackdown on perceived organisers of the protest.

Confirming the arrest, Olabode’s wife told SaharaReporters that her husband was arrested on Friday and had been in detention since then. She said the details of the offence against her husband were not clear, but the case was being handled by the Force Intelligence Department (FID).

It was also reported that two other administrators of the WhatsApp group had previously been arrested and transferred to the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja, where they have been in custody for over two weeks. They were identified by sources as Otamere Ewamade, popularly known as “Hero,” and Fasoyin Ayodeji.

The arrests have drawn concerns among police personnel and observers, who see them as part of a broader effort to suppress internal dissent and stifle calls for reform within the Nigeria Police Force.

“Apart from Inspector Olabode, I was equally informed that one Otamere Ewamade, aka Hero and one Fasoyin Ayodeji, whose ranks and divisions or formations are yet unknown, were arrested in the Lagos State Police Command about two weeks ago and taken to Abuja, where they are being detained for the same reason,” a source told SaharaReporters.

When SaharaReporters reached out to Olabode’s wife on Monday morning, she confirmed that her husband had been taken to Abuja early on Monday morning and expressed concern that their children were not well. 

The police authorities have denied him permission to send money to the family for their medical treatment.

“They left for Abuja this morning. I was informed early this morning that they have left Akure,” she said.

Lamenting the situation, she said, “My children are not well. My second boy is seriously sick, and since Friday, they (police authorities) have not even allowed my husband to send money to us. They have collected his phone since that Friday when he was arrested, and this morning, they left for Abuja. 

“They didn’t allow me to collect his phone. I even called the IPO who holds his phone that my child is sick, and he said he would release the phone today, but today, the people who carried him to Abuja collected the phone.”

The planned nationwide protest is expected to draw attention to the working conditions of police personnel, and the arrests have raised concerns about the handling of dissenting voices within the force.

At the heart of the agitation is a longstanding demand for the removal of the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which the retirees argue has subjected them to years of economic hardship, delayed entitlements, and a lack of dignity in retirement.

Many have cited cases of depression, financial embarrassment, and even premature deaths among their ranks as a result of the current pension structure.