A 22-year-old applicant, Babatunde Fawaz, has been removed from the ongoing recruitment exercise of the Nigeria Police Force after being labelled “overaged,” even though his records show he is still within the allowed age limit.
The applicant said he was born in June 2003, a detail that appears on both his declaration of age and his National Identification records.
The situation has sparked fresh concerns about how the screening process is being handled, both physically and through the Police Service Commission’s online recruitment portal.
According to official guidelines, the maximum age for entry-level applicants is 25 years. However, Babatunde—who is currently 22—was disqualified after successfully passing the physical and document verification stages.
A message sent to him through the recruitment portal stated that he did not meet the required standard for the next stage of the exercise, listing “overaged” as the reason for his disqualification.
At the time of the screening, he was about 21 years and 10 months old, clearly below the age limit set by the police.
Babatunde, who is from Abeokuta North Local Government Area in Ogun State, had progressed through earlier stages before his status was later changed to “disqualified” when candidates selected for the examination stage were released.
Reacting to the development, he expressed confusion and frustration over the decision.
“I’m just 22. I don’t understand why I was marked as overaged. It’s painful and unfair. How can I be too old when the limit is 25?” he said.
The case has raised questions about possible mistakes in the recruitment process, including whether the issue came from human error or a technical problem with the system used for screening applicants.
Attempts to get a response from Anthony Placid were unsuccessful, as he could not be reached for comments.
The physical and credential screening for the recruitment exercise took place between March 9 and April 18, 2026, across the country. Candidates who passed that stage are expected to sit for a written examination scheduled between April 28 and April 30, 2026.