On Wednesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja overturned its decision to sentence Usman Baba, the Inspector-General of Police, to three months in prison for contempt.
In his decision, Justice Bolaji Olajuwon stated that the court had information showing that the I-G had mostly complied with an earlier judgement from the court requiring the reinstatement of Patrick Okoli, a police officer who had been forced into retirement.
Therefore, Justice Olajuwon agreed with the I- G’s attorney Simon Lough’s request that the court set aside the committal order from November 29.
The judge consequently declared that 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,” she ruled.
Baba had been found guilty by Olajuwon on November 29 and given a three-month prison sentence for disobeying the ruling that had ordered the reinstatement of Okoli from a sister court presided over by Justice Donatus Okorowo on October 21, 2011.
Okoli was forced into retirement in 1992 while working as a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) for the Bauchi State Command. The Police Council, which is now the Police Service Commission (PSC), claimed to have acted in accordance with Decree 17 of 1984, but the court overturned that decision in its October 2011 ruling.
