The Inspector-General of Police(IGP), Usman Baba has directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of the force’s legal unit to ascertain the position of the court on his three months sentence and provide him with informed legal advice before taking necessary action.
The police boss made this known in a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the federal high court , Abuja had on Tuesday issued the order that the IGP be committed to prison and detained in custody for a period of three months for “disobeying a court order”.
The IGP’s committal followed a suit that was filed by a police officer, Mr Patrick Okoli, who claimed he was unlawfully and compulsorily retired from the Nigerian Police Force in 1992.
A Federal High Court in Abuja was said to have ordered the reinstatement of Okoli in a judgement on October 21, 2011 but the office of the IGP was said not to have complied.
However, in a statement on behalf of the IGP on Tuesday, Adejobi said the police boss did not disregard court order or the rule of law as “the office is not aware of any Court Order, during the current IGP’s tenure, with respect to a matter making the round in the media that the IGP disobeyed a Court Order for the reinstatement of a dismissed officer of the Force”.
“It is instructive to note that the case in point concerns an officer who was dismissed as far back as 1992, a few years after the current IGP joined the Nigeria Police Force, based on available facts gleaned from the reports.
“The most recent judgement on the matter was given in 2011 which should ordinarily not fall under the direct purview of the current administration of the Force. Thus, the news is strange and astonishing.
“The IGP has however directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Legal Unit to investigate the allegation in a bid to ascertain the position of the court and proffer informed legal advice for the IGP’s prompt and necessary action,” the statement read.
Adejobi also said the IGP will continue to uphold the rule of law and synergise with the judiciary to ensure quick dispensation of justice for an improved criminal justice system.
