Posted by HURIWA, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, has praised the court’s decision to jail Usman Alkali Baba for three months. Baba was the Inspector General of Police.
The group applauded the legal system for its brave action and said it demonstrated that no one is above the law.
HURIWA observed that the judicial power granted to it by Section (6) subsection (1) of the 1999 constitution had been legitimately exercised by the judiciary.
After he refused to follow a Federal High Court order, the Inspector General of Police was given a three-month prison term for contempt of court.
According to HURIWA, the IGP must immediately turn himself in with his prison bag to the Kuje correctional facility in accordance with the Federal High Court’s order. He should not disregard or act in contempt of this court order, it said in a statement to the Daily Post on Tuesday.
“We implore President Muhammadu Buhari to expeditiously personally oversee the IGP’s surrender to the Federal Correctional Center, Kuje. Anything short of strict adherence to this court order will signal Nigeria’s transformation into a banana republic.
The rights group said that the IGP could not be excused on the nebulous ground that he did not originate the breach of the court’s order even if he was the holder of the office at the time of the genesis of the matter because the office of the IGP is consistently occupied.
HURIWA, therefore, counselled the IGP to obey before complaining by complying with the judgment or getting a stay of execution order quickly.