From “Egbon Tunji” to Inspector-General: The Ago-Iwoye Story Behind Olatunji Disu

Sometimes, a career is measured not only by the office a person eventually occupies, but also by the lives touched long before the rank, title and recognition arrive.

For Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu, one of those defining chapters began decades ago at the Ago-Iwoye Police Division in Ogun State, where he served as a young Divisional Police Officer.

Years later, Disu returned to the same station, this time as the head of the Nigeria Police Force.

It was a homecoming that carried more than professional symbolism.

He walked through his former office, revisited his old residence and returned to places associated with his early years as a police officer. The IGP described the experience as emotional, recalling that Ago-Iwoye was where he first tested his leadership abilities as a DPO.

But for some former students who encountered the young officer during those years, Disu’s return also reopened personal memories.

One of those people is Ayo Mojoyin.

For Mojoyin, the man now known as Inspector-General Disu was once simply “Egbon Tunji”.

The Young DPO Students Knew

Mojoyin’s memories date back to his days as a student of the then Ogun State University, now Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.

At the time, Disu was the DPO of the Ago-Iwoye Police Division.

To Mojoyin and some of the students who encountered him, however, he was more than the police officer occupying the position.

He was a young officer who understood the difficult relationship between the police and students in a university community.

According to Mojoyin, Disu knew when to enforce the law, when to caution, when to listen and, importantly, when to advise.

That approach became particularly significant during periods of tension involving students and members of surrounding communities.

When Ago-Iwoye and Oru Almost Turned Deadly

One incident remains particularly vivid in Mojoyin’s memory.

A community dispute involving students and some Oru indigenes had escalated, creating a tense situation that threatened to descend into violence.

Mojoyin recalls being at Itamerin Junction as students from Ago-Iwoye moved towards Oru.

Disu was also present.

From Mojoyin’s recollection, the young DPO and his team provided police support aimed at preventing the situation from degenerating further.

But the incident came at a personal cost for Mojoyin.

A stray bullet entered his eye.

He survived, but says the details of that ordeal are a story for another day.

What stayed with him, however, was not only the danger of that evening but Disu’s approach to handling students.

Mojoyin says the young DPO did not treat students as enemies of the state. Instead, he recognised them as young Nigerians whose emotions could easily be inflamed, but whose futures could equally be destroyed by one reckless decision.

He tried to make them understand that they were their brothers’ keepers.

That experience, Mojoyin believes, revealed an important side of the man who would later rise to the highest office in the Nigeria Police Force.

The DPO Who Became “Egbon Tunji”

For Mojoyin, the name “Egbon Tunji” captured the relationship Disu had with many of the students.

He was firm, but, in Mojoyin’s recollection, he was not a bully.

For Mojoyin, however, the significance of the homecoming goes deeper.

He remembers the officer before the stars, the office and the national responsibility.

He remembers a young DPO who could engage students.

He remembers a man who stood amid a volatile situation and attempted to prevent it from becoming a catastrophe.

He remembers an officer who, in his recollection, understood that young people had futures worth protecting.

He remembers “Egbon Tunji”.

Today, Nigeria sees Inspector-General Olatunji Disu.

Ago-Iwoye remembers the DPO.

And perhaps that is the most powerful part of the story.

Every great journey has a beginning.

For Disu, Ago-Iwoye was one of those beginnings.

For those who encountered him there, his return is not simply a story about a senior police officer revisiting an old station.

It is a reminder of how far a person can travel from the place where the journey began.

A Homecoming Worth Remembering

Mojoyin congratulated the IGP on his return to Ago-Iwoye and also paid tribute to the late Commissioner of Police Bolaji Odesanya and the current Ogun State Commissioner of Police.

For him, Disu’s return offers a broader lesson about public service and leadership.

Those who occupy powerful offices today once stood somewhere else. They once learned, made mistakes, confronted challenges, earned trust and built relationships.

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

Those who were there saw the young officer before the rank became national.

They saw the man before the office became the highest in the police hierarchy.

And now, decades later, the young DPO has returned as Inspector-General.

From Ago-Iwoye to Force Headquarters.

From “Egbon Tunji” to IGP Disu.

The office may have changed.

The rank may have risen.

The responsibilities may have become enormous.

But the beginning remains the same.

Ago-Iwoye.

For Nigeria, Olatunji Disu is the Inspector-General of Police.