The Court further held that: “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.”
By Emma Ogbuehi
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday sentenced the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to three months in prison for disobeying a valid court order.
The court, in a ruling by Justice M. O. Olajuwon, held that the IGP should be committed to prison and detained in custody for a period of three months or until he obeys an order it made on October 21, 2011.
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The IGP’s committal followed a suit by a police officer, Mr. Patrick Okoli, who claimed he was unlawfully and compulsorily retired from the Nigerian Police Force.
Justice Olajuwon noted that though the Police Service Commission recommended Okoli’s reinstatement into the Force, a decision that was affirmed by the court, the IGP refused to comply with the order made on October 21, 2011.
Baba was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to replace Mohammed Adamu who retired from the Nigeria Police Force in February 2021.
The court had also ordered the payment of N10 million to the applicant, being special and general damages for the unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional denial of his rights and privileges as a senior officer of the Nigeria Police Force from 1993 till date.
“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 court held.