Court sets aside order sentencing IGP to prison

A Federal High Court in Abuja has vacated its earlier ruling, ordering the arrest of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba for contempt.

Justice Bolaji Olajuwon gave the latest ruling on Wednesday.

According to her, there was latest evidence showing that the IGP had substantially complied with the court’s earlier order directing the reinstatement of an officer, Patrick Okoli, who was compulsorily retired.

She therefore vacated her earlier order on the request of the IGP on 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,” she ruled.

The judge had in the November 29 ruling, convicted the IGP and sentenced him to a three-month jail term for failing to obey the October 21, 2011 judgment of the Federal High Court reinstating Okoli.

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

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