The Lagos State Police Command has described as untrue, baseless, and mischievous allegations that its Commissioner (CP) Olohundare Jimoh defied a court order that policemen deployed to NESTOIL premises should vacate.
The command in a statement on Sunday insisted that it complied with the court order as soon as it was received and verified to be true, describing the widely publicized alleged defiance as a clear misrepresentation of facts capable of misleading the public.
The statement signed by the spokesperson for the command, SP Abimbola Adebisi, stressed that the allegations were intentionally created to cast aspersions on the neutrality of the police in the entire episode.
“The Lagos Police Commissioner respects the laws of the land in all circumstances, and he is under strict obligations to abide by orders, decisions, and pronouncements of every Court of Law throughout Nigeria, and he has never done anything to disrespect the law and will not carry out any act either overtly or covertly to disobey the court orders in any way.
“Court orders are sacrosanct and must be promptly obeyed in totality without any iota of contemplation by the Police, and this was strictly abided by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police in the case of NESTOIL Premises,” it stated.
Setting the record straight, the command said it received a court order in respect of NESTOIL premises at about 5:50 pm on Thursday, November 20.
“The Court Order was promptly attended to and sent to the Police Legal Department of the Lagos State Command for verification and confirmation of the authenticity from the issuing court. The response to the confirmation was received in the evening of the 21st of November, 2025.
“Subsequent to this, all police personnel in the premises were withdrawn immediately without any further delay in compliance with the Court Order on the same date of 21st November, 2025.
“It therefore came as a surprise shock to the Lagos Police Commissioner of Police’s attention to be drawn to the publications and interviews in some sections of the media that “LAGOS POLICE COMMISSIONER DEFIES COURT ORDER ON NESTOIL PREMISES“. “This story is untrue, incorrect, and misleading. This is a wicked attempt to join the Police in the issue of the NESTOIL and other parties in the matter.
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“For avoidance of doubt, the Lagos Police Commissioner never stepped on the premises of NESTOIL on the 20th November, 2025, and on 21st November, 2025. The roles of the Police are limited to giving protection to the Court Sheriff as they carry out the enforcement of Court Orders and maintenance of peace, law, and order during the process. There was no time when the police prevented this process.
“It is incumbent on the Lagos State Police Command to educate the mischief-makers and mischievous persons who are bent on dragging the Lagos Police Commissioner into the matter that the Police has no power to seal any premises, including that of NESTOIL.
Police responsibilities under the law are to protect the Sheriff in the enforcement of court orders, or any other person(s) so directed by the court, and other public officials in carrying out their lawful duties as earlier stated above.
The Lagos State Police Command, therefore, enjoins all the parties involved in the case to concentrate on the proceedings of their legal processes in court and not to drag the police into unnecessary controversy in the matter,” the command added.
