Police Officers To Face Jail Term Over Contempt Of Court
An assistant Inspector General of Police and a superintendent of Police, Tijani Taofiq of Zone 2 Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos have been charged for contempt of court.
The applicant, a Chinese national, Cheng Zheng was arrested and detained by the police officers for criminal offence.
Zheng is the interpreter and sales manager of Hand in Hand Industry Nigeria Limited.
The case with Suit no: HCT/872/19 has been filed before Justice O. Ogunfowora of Ota High Court, who declared that the accusation lacked evidence.
In his judgement on June 9, 2020, Justice Ogunfowora ordered the release of the applicant’s international passport with No. EB4555829.
The court also ordered the defendants to pay N500,000 as damages and also pay N50,000 in favour of the applicant.
The defendants, however, failed to comply with the judgement of the court, necessitating the applicant to file contempt of court against the defendants before Justice O. J Bamgbose of Igbesa High Court, Ogun State.
When the case was called on Tuesday, counsel to the applicant, Chief O. T Akinbiyi, SAN, argued that refusal of the police officers to abide by the rules of the court was an infringement of the fundamental rights and liberty of the applicant.
The counsel prayed the court to compel the defendants to comply with the previous court order.
Akinbiyi also prayed the court to sentence the police officers over their refusal to obey rules of the court.
Akinbiyi said, “The refusal to comply with the court order is an infringement of the fundamental rights and liberty of the applicant.
“The respondents were duly notified of the court order and warned that they risked punishment if they failed to abide by the ruling.
“They did not give any reason for their refusal to comply with the court and why they didn’t appear before the court.”
Justice O. J Bamgbose, however, adjourned the case till April 6, 2022 for judgment
