CONTEMPT: I’M NOT AWARE OF COURT ORDER – IGP

The Inspector General of Police , Usman Alkali Baba, yesterday said he was not aware of any court order on a dismissed officer and his commital to prison..

Just recently a Federal High Court in Abuja had  sentenced the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, to three months in prison for disobeying a valid court order.

The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Bolaji Olajuwon, held that the IGP, whose men often go after such violators of the law, should be committed to prison and detained in custody for a period of three months, or until he obeys an order made since October 21, 2011.

In his ruling, Justice Olajuwon said,”If at the end of the three months, the contemnor remains recalcitrant and still refuses to purge his contempt, he shall be committed for another period and until he purges his contempt.”

The IGP’s committal to prison followed a suit that was filed by a police officer, Mr. Patrick Okoli, who was unlawfully and compulsorily retired from the Nigerian Police Force.

Justice Olajuwon noted that though the Police Service Commission (PSC) had recommended Okoli’s reinstatement into the Police, a decision that was affirmed by the court, the IGP has refused to comply with the order.