A federal high court in Abuja has set aside its order committing, the inspector-general of police (IGP), Usman Baba, to imprisonment for contempt.
TalkGlitz had reported on November 29 that the court had sentenced the IGP to three months in prison for disobeying a court order.
The presiding judge, Mobolaji Olajunwon, convicted the IGP following a suit filed by Patrick Okoli, a former police officer, who claims he was unlawfully and compulsorily retired from the Nigerian police force.
However, the IGP filed a motion seeking an order to set aside the contempt proceedings and committal order on the grounds that he had not been appointed into office when the case was instituted.
He also said official steps were taken by his predecessors to comply with the reinstatement order of the plaintiff.
However, Justice Bolaji Olajuwon, in a ruling on Wednesday, said there was evidence before the court that the IGP had substantially complied with the order directing the reinstatement of Okoli who was compulsorily retired from the force.
Consequently, she declared that the application of the IGP “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.
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