The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to appear before it through his counsel or representative to face a contempt suit on September 28 for disobeying judgments, which his successive predecessors, too, serially shunned.
Records showed that Adamu shunned the legal advice issued to him by the force headquarters’ legal section to comply with the judgments.
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on July 16, 2020, ordered Adamu to appear in court through counsel.
This followed the IGP’s failure to act on the court’s Forms 48 and 49 served on him to warn him of the possibility of his being jailed for the continuous act of court contempt.
Court records showed that the IGP and his lawyers ignored the July 16, 2020 proceedings where the judge issued the order summoning him to appear in court through his counsel.
The applicant, who instituted the contempt suit against the IGP, is Mr Patrick Okoli, a former police officer unlawfully retired from the Nigerian Police Force on December 5, 1992.
Since 1994, Okoli had obtained two court judgments ordering his reinstatement and promotion to the suitable rank, but they were ignored by Adamu and his predecessors.
The latest of the judgments delivered on October 21, 2011 by the Federal High Court in Abuja, directed the IGP to comply with the previous judgment and the advice by the Police Service Commission for the reinstatement and promotion of the applicant.
The Legal/Prosecution Section of the Force Headquarters, had in a response to Adamu’s March 18, 2019 request for legal opinion, also advised compliance with the court judgments.
However, contrary to the advice, a counter-affidavit later filed against the suit on behalf of the IGP, stated that Adamu “did not in any way disobey any order of court as the applicant has not attended the mandatory management course which will enable him to be promoted to the management rank he is seeking.” – Punch.
