From ‘Egbon Tunji’ to IGP: Ayo Mojoyin Recalls Olatunji Disu’s Ago-Iwoye Years

 

From ‘Egbon Tunji’ to IGP: Ayo Mojoyin Recalls Olatunji Disu’s Ago-Iwoye Years

By Ayo Mojoyin

The journey of Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu to the pinnacle of the Nigeria Police Force is not only a story of professional advancement, but also one of leadership, community engagement and lives touched long before the highest office came calling.

For Ayo Mojoyin, memories of Disu stretch back to his days as a young Divisional Police Officer in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, where his approach to policing left an enduring impression on students of the then Ogun State University, now Olabisi Onabanjo University.

Disu’s recent return to the Ago-Iwoye Police Division, where he once served as DPO, therefore represented more than a ceremonial homecoming. It reopened a chapter of history that Mojoyin says deserves to be told.

At the time, I knew him simply as “Egbon Tunji.”

I was a student; he was the DPO. But to many of us who encountered him during those turbulent university years, he was more than a police officer occupying an office.

He understood the delicate relationship between students, their host communities and the police. He knew when to enforce the law, when to caution, when to listen and, perhaps most importantly, when to advise.

One episode remains permanently etched in my memory.

During a community crisis involving students and some Oru indigenes, tensions rose dangerously and what began as a dispute threatened to spiral into a far more devastating confrontation.

I was there. Disu was also there at Itamerin Junction as students from Ago-Iwoye moved towards Oru.

From my recollection, he provided police support aimed at ensuring that the situation did not descend into uncontrollable violence.

That evening almost changed my own life forever after a stray bullet entered my eye. I survived, but that is a story for another day.

What stayed with me about Disu, however, was not simply his uniform, authority or the presence of the police. It was his approach to dealing with young people at a moment when emotions were running high.

He understood that students were not enemies of the state. They were young Nigerians whose emotions could be inflamed but whose futures could also be destroyed by one reckless decision.

He constantly tried to make us understand that we were our brothers’ keepers.

That was why I called him “Egbon Tunji.”

He was firm, but he was not a bully. He could exercise authority without unnecessarily humiliating people.

He would advise you about the consequences of your actions and remind you that your future was bigger than whatever confrontation or disagreement appeared important at that moment.

Looking back, I believe that was one of the qualities that distinguished him.

As a young police officer commanding a sensitive university community, Disu appeared to understand that policing was not merely about arrests and enforcement. It was also about conflict prevention, community engagement and protecting young people from decisions capable of permanently derailing their lives.

From my experience, his period as DPO in Ago-Iwoye was relatively calm compared with some periods that followed, particularly regarding cult-related clashes and student unrest.

For those of us who experienced those years, that mattered.

Interestingly, I never reminded him about many of these Ago-Iwoye experiences.

Even when he later became Commander of the Rapid Response Squad in Lagos and our paths crossed again, I never brought up those university days.

Perhaps he had forgotten. I had not.

There were occasions when he asked his officers to look for me.

One was connected to the incident in which the stray bullet entered my eye. Another followed an entirely different episode involving my stolen phone.

While desperately searching for the phone, I damaged three doors and subsequently faced an allegation of malicious damage.

When I eventually found the phone, I ran to Lagos. On my return, I came with the late CSP Silifat Momoh, the mother of a friend, who intervened and helped resolve the matter.

These incidents may appear insignificant when placed beside the enormous responsibilities of a man who would eventually rise to the highest office in the Nigeria Police Force, but history is sometimes best understood through small, personal moments.

I always believed Olatunji Disu would go places.

Even as a young DPO in Ago-Iwoye, there was something about his disposition that suggested he was unlikely to remain ordinary. He carried himself like a man who understood responsibility.

Today, that young officer who once commanded a police division in a university community has risen to the pinnacle of Nigeria’s policing institution.

His return to Ago-Iwoye therefore carries powerful symbolism.

From Ago-Iwoye to Force Headquarters.

From policing students and residents in a university town to shouldering responsibility at the highest level of the Nigeria Police Force.

From “Egbon Tunji” to Inspector-General Olatunji Disu.

It is more than career progression. It is a journey defined by time, experience, resilience, leadership and destiny.

I congratulate the Inspector-General on his return to Ago-Iwoye.

I also salute the memory and service of the late CP Bolaji Odesanya, as well as the present Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, whose contributions to the Nigeria Police Force I have always respected.

For me, however, the significance of Disu’s return goes beyond nostalgia.

It reminds us that those who occupy powerful offices today once stood somewhere else—learning, making difficult decisions, confronting challenges and building relationships with ordinary people.

Ago-Iwoye was one of Disu’s early proving grounds.

Those of us who were there saw the young police officer before the higher ranks and national responsibilities came.

I saw “Egbon Tunji.”

I saw a police officer who could engage students.

I saw a man who could stand in the middle of a volatile situation and attempt to prevent it from becoming a catastrophe.

I saw someone who believed young people had futures worth protecting.

Today, Nigeria sees the Inspector-General of Police, but Ago-Iwoye remembers the DPO.

Perhaps that is the most powerful part of this homecoming.

The office may change. The rank may rise. The responsibilities may become enormous, but every great journey has a place where part of the story began.

For Olatunji Disu, Ago-Iwoye occupies a special place in that journey. And for some of us who were there, his return is not merely history.

It is personal.

Ayo Mojoyin writes from Nigeria.