Court orders IG of Police, AIG’s arrest for contempt

A National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the arrest of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, and the Force Secretary, AIG Hafeez Inuwa, for disobeying the court order.

The court had earlier ordered the IG to reinstate some police officers, who are graduates of Courses 33, 34 and 35 of the police academy, but said to have been forcefully retired by the force.

The aggrieved officers approached the court and sought an order to nullify their compulsory retirement from the service by the IG.

The court, however, presided over by Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi, then ordered that the IG, the Police Service Commission, and the Force Secretary of the Police reinstate the forcefully retired officers.

However, since April 19, 2022, when the judgement was delivered, the IGP and other defendants have yet to obey the court order.

In a recent order given by the court on June 8, 2023, a copy of which was made available on Tuesday, Justice Oyewumi berated the IG for the latter’s refusal to obey the court despite advice from the relevant stakeholders in the police force.