Are you one of those who is surprised as to why the court gave IGP Usman Baba a three-month prison sentence?
Do not be confused; in a democracy, no one is above the law.
IGP Usman Baba Sentence
Usman Alkali Baba, the Inspector General of Police, was given a three-month prison term by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On Tuesday, November 29, the court presided over by Justice M. O. Olajuwon handed down the sentence after ruling that Baba had violated a legally binding court order.
According to Vanguard, the court decided that the IGP should be put to prison and held in detention for three months, or until he complies with an order that has been in place since October 21, 2011.
- “If at the end of the three months, the contemnor remains recalcitrant and still refuses to purge his contempt, he shall be committed for another period and until he purges his contempt”, the court ruled.
Why Was He Sentenced To Prison?
Following a lawsuit brought by Mr. Patrick Okoli, a police officer who was forcibly and illegally dismissed from the Nigerian Police Force, the IGP was sentenced to prison.
Justice Olajuwon pointed out that despite the Police Service Commission’s (PSC) recommendation, which the court upheld, that Okoli be reinstated into the Police, the IGP refused to abide by the ruling.
As special and general damages for the unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional suspension of the applicant’s rights and privileges as a Senior Officer of the Nigeria Police Force from 1993 till the present, the court additionally ordered the payment of N10 million to the applicant.
Will the Inspector General of Police actually go to prison, is what many Nigerians are wondering right now.
