Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the nation’s capital city has withdrawn its order instructing the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba to be committed to prison for contempt.
Justice Bolaji Olajuwon, in a ruling on Wednesday, said fresh evidence before the court shows the IGP has partially complied with the initial court order hence no need for the punishment.
Recall the court had on November 29, 2022, ordered the IGP to be imprisoned for three months over failure to comply with an earlier order directing the reinstatement of Patrick Okoli, who was compulsorily retired as a police officer.
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.
Back in November, Justice Olajuwon noted that though the Police Service Commission (PSC) recommended Okoli’s reinstatement into the Force, a decision that was affirmed by the court, the IGP refused to comply with the order.
The court had also ordered the payment of N10m 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.
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