Nigeria's Police Chief Olatunji Disu Did Not Order Immediate Training for 50,000 New Constables

22 September 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Catherine Adeniyi

Nigeria's police chief Olatunji Disu did not order immediate training for 50,000 new constables

IN SHORT: Posts on Facebook claim Nigeria's police chief Olatunji Disu ordered the immediate training of 50,000 new police constables. But the police say the purported announcement is false and unauthorised.

The Police Service Commission, which oversees recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force, opened applications for 50,000 constables in December 2025.

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The portal closed in February 2026 after receiving 616,873 applications.

In August, inspector general of police Olatunji Disu said the recruitment had reached its final pre-training stage, with preparations continuing for training under a new curriculum.

A month later, posts circulating on social media claimed Disu had ordered training to begin immediately.

One post reads: "IGP OLATUNJI RILWAN DISU DIRECTS COMMENCEMENT OF TRAINING FOR 50,000 NEWLY RECRUITED POLICE CONSTABLES."

It also told candidates to check the police recruitment portal from 14 September 2026 for their training institutions and resumption dates.

The same claim appeared on Facebook here and here. (Note: See other instances of the claim at the end of this report.)

But did Disu issue the directive? We checked.

Police disown purported announcement

The Nigerian police dismissed the purported press release as false, saying it had neither issued nor authorised it.

The police advised candidates to rely on the official recruitment portal and its verified communication channels for updates. They also said they were searching for those behind the fake press release.

This is not the first false training notice linked to the recruitment exercise. The police also disowned an earlier notice directing recruits to report for training on 18 September 2026.

The claim is false. False recruitment notices can mislead applicants about the process and potentially expose them to fraud.

Other instances of the false claim can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
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