Gloria Ogbu
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, sentenced the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to three months in prison for disobeying a valid court order.
According to reports, the presiding judge, Mobolaji Olajuwon, issued the ruling on Tuesday following a suit filed by a former police officer, Patrick Okoli, who claimed he was unlawfully and compulsorily retired from the Nigerian police force.
According to the affidavits in support of the suit, the applicant (Okoli) was forcefully retired in June 1992.
After challenging his forceful retirement, a Bauchi high court on February 19, 1994, delivered judgment in favour of the applicant and quashed the letter of compulsory retirement.
The high court also ordered that the applicant be reinstated with all rights and privileges.
The Police Service Commission (PSC) in a letter dated October 13, 2004, directed the then-IGP to reinstate the applicant and issue a recommendation for promotion in accordance with the decision of the court.
Consequently, Okoli instituted a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/637/2009 at the Abuja federal high court seeking an order of mandamus to compel the enforcement of the order of the Bauchi state high court and the directives of the PSC.
The Abuja federal high court delivered its judgment in favour of the applicant on October 21, 2011.
The office of the IGP appealed the federal high court judgment but the appeal was dismissed.