Nigeria, Aug. 25, 2016 – Inspector General of Police, has been summoned by a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state, to come before it and plead why he should not be punished for flagrant disobedience to an order of court in a case involving the Oyo monarch, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
Contempt proceeding were filed before the court on August 22, 2016 wherein it was argued that the IGP had constantly ignore the order of court to investigate allegations brought against Oba Adeyemi.
Form 48 from the court was served on the IGP in June last year, warning him of the consequences of disobeying court order. In the Form 49, served on August 22, the incumbent IGP was asked to show cause he ought not to be punished by imprisonment after his office repeatedly disobeyed court order.
“You are hereby required to attend the court on the first mentioned day to show cause why an order for your committal should not be made”, the court paper read. The matter emanated from Justice Ayo Emmanuel Court, which on December 15, 2014 granted an order of mandamus, following an ex parte motion, brought before it by Jacob Oluokun and Sulaiman Ishola, seeking an order mandating the police to investigate criminal allegations against Adeyemi.
The allegations are contained in a March 18, 2014 petition to office of the IGP.The petition titled: “Unprecedented criminality, flagrant human rights violations, bomb planting, gun running and unresolved assassinations in Oyo town, Oyo state” was delivered to the IGP’s office on April 17, 2014.
The application for mandamus with the suit No: FHC/IB/CS/54/2014 was filed at the Federal High court, Ibadan, by the applicants’ counsel, Biodun Abdur-Raheem on July 16, 2014, two months after the police declined actions on the petition.
Messrs. Oluokun and Ishola, are from Isale-Oyo community with which the Alaafin has been at loggerheads since 1992, when the head of the community, Amuda Olohunosebi, then the Ashipa of Oyo land, was allegedly murdered.
But almost two years after the court gave its order, the Nigerian Police is yet to comply.According to petitioner’s counsel, “successive IGPs have refused to obey the order (to investigate the Adeyemi) even after two letters of reminder had been sent to him on January 5 and January 21.
“There has not been Police action despite preponderance of facts and evidence which made the court to compel the Police to investigate the monarch in the first place” Abdur-Raheem added.
“We are now suing the Inspector General of Police for contempt of court”, he told journalist
Abdur-Raheem however alleged that the IGP may be shielding the said monarch because of his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). According to the petitioner counsel, the Monarch, who ought to be father to all in Oyo state, is a registered and card carrying member of the ruling APC.
“His membership of the APC may not be unconnected with reason the IGP is shying away from executing the order of court. The traditional ruler holds APC membership card number 01000881 and he may have registered with the party to hide from the law otherwise, why would a traditional ruler be a registered party member which entitles him to contest for any office on the platform of the party”, Abdur-Raheem questioned.
