Sowore’s Revisiting Of Egbetokun: When Social Media Narratives Collide With Facts -By Kelvin Adegbenga

There is a familiar pattern in the public interventions of Omoyele Sowore: make a sweeping allegation, attach it to a controversial narrative, repeat it across social media platforms and hope that repetition will eventually substitute for evidence.

His latest attempt to rewrite history concerning former Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, is another example.

Sowore recently claimed on his social media handles that “Kayode Egbetokun had me arrested for leading the Police Protest demanding better welfare and improved working conditions for officers of the Nigeria Police Force.”

That assertion is false and deserves to be challenged.

At no time did former IGP Egbetokun arrest Sowore for allegedly leading a police protest demanding better welfare or improved working conditions for members of the Nigeria Police Force. The claim creates a convenient narrative that may appeal to those unfamiliar with the circumstances surrounding Sowore’s encounters with the authorities, but it does not make the allegation true.

Indeed, anyone who followed Sowore’s activities during the Egbetokun administration would recall his persistent and often hostile social media campaigns against the former police leadership. His posts frequently portrayed the Nigeria Police Force and its administration in the most negative light, sometimes without adequate context or verifiable evidence.

It is therefore difficult to understand why Sowore now seeks to present himself as some sort of champion of police welfare while simultaneously attempting to diminish the record of an Inspector-General whose administration introduced several measures aimed at improving the welfare of serving and retired police personnel.

The Welfare Record Cannot Be Erased by Social Media Posts

One of the strongest responses to Sowore’s narrative is the record of the Egbetokun administration itself.

Under the former IGP, substantial attention was given to the welfare of police personnel and their families. Among the notable interventions was the disbursement of approximately ₦24.2 billion in multiple phases to 9,735 families of deceased police officers through the Group Life Assurance and the IGP Family Welfare Scheme. It covers policy years from 2015 to 2025, clearing significant backlogs and long-outstanding claims.

That is not the record of an administration indifferent to the welfare of its personnel.

It is also misleading to suggest that retired police officers were simply abandoned to hardship under Egbetokun. Welfare challenges have existed in the Nigeria Police Force for decades and cannot honestly be attributed to one administration. What should matter is whether successive leaderships made interventions to alleviate those challenges.

The Egbetokun administration did.

It is therefore important that public discourse about police welfare be based on verifiable interventions rather than social-media rhetoric designed to create an impression that the former IGP did nothing for police officers.

Egbetokun Was Not an “Illegal” Inspector-General

Another claim that requires correction is the attempt to portray Egbetokun as an “illegal” Inspector-General of Police.

That description is simply a political or social-media characterization, not an established fact.

Egbetokun served as Inspector-General of Police under the constitutional and institutional framework governing the Nigeria Police Force. His tenure ended when he resigned from office on health grounds; he was not publicly disgraced out of office as some narratives have sought to suggest.

Indeed, the former IGP was ceremonially pulled out of the Nigeria Police Force at the end of his tenure, a formal farewell befitting a senior police officer who had completed his service. The ceremony itself was significant because not every former Inspector-General has enjoyed such a ceremonial exit.

History should therefore record his departure accurately rather than through the distorted lens of social-media commentary.

The Sowore Case and the Role of the Police

Sowore’s attempt to link his previous encounter with the police directly to Egbetokun’s alleged personal vendetta also ignores the institutional structure of policing.

The then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Akin Fakorede, performed his duties diligently in matters that came before his office, including the case involving Sowore. His responsibility was to discharge his professional duties according to the circumstances and information available to him, without fear or favour.

To retrospectively portray every police action involving a politically vocal individual as the personal instruction of the Inspector-General is to oversimplify the workings of a large institution.

The Nigeria Police Force is not the personal property of an Inspector-General, just as an Inspector-General does not personally determine every operational or investigative action undertaken by officers across the country.

A Legacy Should Be Judged by Records, Not Rhetoric

It is understandable that public figures may disagree with police authorities or challenge decisions taken by law-enforcement agencies. Such disagreements are legitimate in a democracy.

But disagreement should not become an excuse for rewriting history.

Sowore has every right to express his opinions about the Nigeria Police Force and its former leadership. However, those opinions should not be elevated into established facts simply because they are repeatedly posted on social media.

The claim that Egbetokun arrested him for leading a police protest demanding better welfare is one such narrative that requires evidence, not repetition.

The same applies to the claim that Egbetokun was an “illegal” IGP, that he was disgraced from office, or that his administration abandoned retired police personnel. These assertions must be tested against documented events and institutional records.

For those who genuinely care about police reform, the more productive conversation should be about how to sustain and improve the welfare initiatives that benefited serving officers, deceased officers’ families and other members of the police community.

Egbetokun Has Earned the Right to His Retirement

Former IGP Kayode Egbetokun has left office and, by all indications, is enjoying his retirement away from the daily pressures of police administration.

His tenure should therefore be assessed objectively, its successes, shortcomings, reforms and challenges—rather than reduced to the personal narratives of individuals who had disagreements with the police administration.

The Nigeria Police Force is bigger than any Inspector-General, just as it is bigger than any critic of the institution.

Sowore’s latest social-media intervention should therefore not be allowed to become another occasion for historical revisionism.

The facts remain important: Egbetokun was not removed from office in disgrace; he resigned on health grounds. He was ceremonially pulled out of the Force. His administration implemented significant welfare interventions, including the disbursement of ₦24.2 billion to 9,735 families of deceased police officers. And there was no occasion when he arrested Sowore for leading a police protest demanding improved welfare and working conditions.

Whatever criticisms may be levelled against the former IGP, his record deserves to be judged on evidence.

For now, Kayode Egbetokun has moved on from the office he once occupied. He deserves to enjoy his retirement in peace and sound health, while the legacy of his years in the Nigeria Police Force is assessed not through the noise of social media, but through the record of what his administration actually did.

Kelvin Adegbenga writes from Abuja. Email: kelvinadegbenga@yahoo.com