‘I Was Not Discharged Over Age Falsification’ – Retired DIG Opens Up

Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations), Ari Mohammed Ali, has refuted reports suggesting he was dismissed from service over allegations of age falsification and violation of service rules.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Ibrahim Anas Alemani, over the weekend, Ali described the reports as “false, misleading, and a deliberate attempt to tarnish his reputation.”

The retired police chief stressed that he served the Nigeria Police Force with integrity and retired honourably after a distinguished career marked by professionalism and excellence.

The statement clarified, “DIG Ari Mohammed Ari (rtd) was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force on March 3, 1990, as a member of Course 16 cadet ASP. He trained at the Elite Police Academy in Kaduna State and served in various commands, including Delta, Bayelsa, Lagos, Rivers, and Kano States, as well as the Police Staff College, Jos.”

Ali was also Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations in Lagos for three years, during which he earned the Security Watch Africa Award of Excellence as Best Operations Officer in African Security in 2018.

While serving as Commissioner of Police in Delta State from 2021 to 2023, the statement noted, the state became one of the safest in the country.

He was later promoted to Assistant Inspector General of Police in 2023 and posted to Zone 2, Lagos State. In January 2024, he was redeployed to Force Headquarters as AIG Community Policing before being posted to Kano State as AIG Zone 1.

Ali was eventually promoted to Deputy Inspector General of Police on November 24, 2024, and served as DIG Operations at the Force Headquarters in Abuja until his retirement on March 1, 2025, after attaining the mandatory 60 years of age and 35 years of service.

Meanwhile, SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Ali, now retired, had joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) and plans to contest for a Senate seat representing Nasarawa South in the 2027 general elections.

The development mirrors the path of former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, who, after retiring in 2021, also declared his political ambition to contest for the Nasarawa governorship under the APC platform.