An order from the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 29, 2022, sending the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, to jail for contempt has been vacated.
In a decision handed down on Wednesday, Justice Bolaji Olajuwon stated that there was evidence in front of the court indicating that the Inspector General of Police has substantially complied with the court’s earlier order. The order required the reinstatement of Patrick Okoli, who was compulsorily retired as a police officer.
According to Justice Olajuwon, the IGP’s plea to vacate the committal order “is worthy of sympathetic consideration” in light of the new circumstances.
Since the applicant, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has shown “substantial compliance” with the court’s order and given an undertaking to ensure full compliance, the judgement commuting him has been vacated, she stated.
In her November 29 verdict, Justice Olajuwon found the IGP guilty and sentenced him to three months in prison for disobeying the Federal High Court’s October 21, 2011 ruling that reinstated Okoli.
While serving as a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) for the Bauchi State Command in 1992, Okoli was compulsorily retired by the Police Council (now Police Service Commission; PSC), which claimed to have acted under Decree 17 of 1984; the court overturned this decision in October 2011.