Nigeria's federal prosecutors hit a wall Thursday in their push to arraign five high-ranking retired police officers on charges of doctoring birth dates to stretch careers beyond limits, as the defendants ghosted a Federal Capital Territory High Court hearing for the third time, prompting pleas for arrest warrants that the judge shot down as hasty.

The no-shows by former Assistant Inspector General Idowu Owohunwa, Commissioners Benneth Igweh and Ukachi Peter Opara, Deputy Commissioner Obo Ukam Obo, and Assistant Commissioner Simon A. Lough left the 14-count indictment—marked CR/353/2025 and filed by Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun—hanging, with allegations spanning conspiracy, forgery, and bogus declarations to dodge mandatory retirement under the Penal Code and Public Service Rules.

Prosecutor ACP Rimamsomte Ezekiel laid out the hunt: knocks at old addresses bounced back empty, WhatsApp pings went unread, leaving him to beg for a bench warrant to drag them in.

Defense lead Terkaa Aondo, a Senior Advocate, pushed back hard, insisting criminal summons demand face-to-face delivery and jabbing the force's reach: "If they could arrest Nnamdi Kanu in Kenya and Omoyele Sowore in Nigeria, why not these defendants?"

Justice Yusuf Halilu sided with procedure, ruling personal service non-negotiable and the warrant bid too soon, since bail had been granted on their own word. He tasked both sides with hauling the retirees to the bar by November 17, underscoring the police's own duty to corral their ex-ranks.

The saga spotlights a raw nerve in Nigeria's security ranks, where age tweaks have long whispered as a perk for the brass, now colliding with vows to clean house amid public cries for accountability in a force scarred by graft probes.