IGP speaks following 3 months sentence for contempt

Admin l Wednesday, November 30, 2022

 

ABUJA, Nigeria – The Nigeria Police Force has said that the office of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba is not aware that the IGP has been sentenced to three months imprisonment for contempt of court.

In a statement, the police said the IGP did not disregard Court Order or rule of law as the office is not aware of any Court Order, during the current IGP’s tenure, with respect to a matter making the round in the media that the IGP disobeyed a court order for the reinstatement of a dismissed officer of the Force, Mr. Patrick Okoli.

Justice M. O. Olajuwon, had 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 since October 21, 2011.

“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.

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

The court had also ordered  payment of N10million 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.

Speaking on the development, the police said “It is instructive to note that the case in point concerns an officer who was dismissed as far back as 1992, a few years after the current IGP joined the Nigeria Police Force, based on available facts gleaned from the reports.

“The most recent judgement on the matter was given in 2011 which should ordinarily not fall under the direct purview of the current administration of the Force. Thus, the news is strange and astonishing”, Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said in the statement.

According to him, the IGP has however directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Legal Unit to investigate the allegation in a bid to ascertain the position of the court and profer informed legal advice for the IGP’s prompt and necessary action.

The Inspector-General of Police, he said reiterates his commitment to upholding the rule of law and synergizing with the judiciary to ensure quick dispensation of justice for an improved criminal justice system.