Alleged Contempt: Order Sentencing IGP To 3 Months Imprisonment Vacated

The order, committing the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, to three-month imprisonment for contempt, was, on Wednesday, vacated.

It was vacated by Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of an Abuja Federal High Court, who set aside the order.

In a ruling, Justice Olajuwon held that there was evidence before the court that the IGP had substantially complied with the court’s earlier order directing the reinstatement of Patrick Okoli, who was compulsorily retired as a police officer.

The judge also agreed with the submission of counsel to the IGP, Simon Lough, SAN, praying the court to void the November 29 committal order.

According to Justice Olajuwon, "In view of the development, the application by Mr. Baba is worthy of sympathetic consideration.

“In view of the substantial compliance with the order of the court and the assurance of ensuring full compliance, the order committing the applicant, Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, is hereby set aside.”

It would be recalled that Justice Olajuwon had on November 29, convicted IGP Baba and sentenced him to a three-month jail term for failing to obey the October 21, 2011 judgment of a sister court presided over by Justice Donatus Okorowo, reinstating Okoli.

Okoli was compulsorily retired in 1992 while serving in the Bauchi State Command as a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) by the Police Council (now Police Service Commission (PSC), which claimed to have acted under Decree 17 of 1984, a decision the court voided in the October 2011 judgment.

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