The High Court at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has thrown its weight behind the legal moves to jail the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, Mohammed Ahmed Barde, over alleged disobedience to valid court order.
Already, the presiding judge, Justice A.S. Adepoju, has ordered service of the contempt processes on him by substituted means.
The order was sequel to the contempt proceedings initiated against Barde by a House of Representatives member-elect, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere.
The court had, earlier in the year, granted an order restraining the Imo State governor, the Nigerian Police, Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police, Imo State, and the State Security Service from inviting, investigating, arresting or detaining the opposition coalition spokesperson, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere.
However, in a flagrant violation of the clear and mandatory order of the court, the commissioner of police caused an illegal letter, now quashed by the court, to be issued, inviting Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere for investigation, in a desperate state government-backed move to frame the opposition spokesperson for murder, terrorism and arson.
Following the above development, the federal lawmaker-elect applied to the court to issue form 48 and 49, which are legal procedure for commencement of committal proceedings for contempt of court.
The court, while agreeing with Ugochinyere, ordered that the forms against the commissioner of police, the IGP, Usman Baba Alkali, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Admin), Ukachi Opara, be served on them through substituted means, by delivering them to the legal department, or any officer or staff of the Nigeria Police Force, at its headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja.
By this court order, the CP is expected to appear in court on today, to show cause why he should not be sent to prison for three months, for violating court orders.
