Nigeria police chief sentenced to three months in jail

The Nigerian high court has given the nation's police head a three-month prison term for defying a court order.

The decision came after a police officer who had been fired in 1992 filed a lawsuit.

The officer contested his forced retirement, and the court ultimately overturned his discharge.

The court decided that until he reinstates the police officer, Inspector General Usman Alkali Baba must serve the three-month jail term.

The police force has not complied thus far.

Police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi called the ruling "astonishing" in a statement.

He claimed that the police were analyzing the decision to determine the best course of action.

The case in question involved an officer who was fired as early as 1992, just a few years after the present IGP joined the Nigeria Police Force, he claimed.

The "latest recent judgment on the case was given in 2011, which should typically not fall under the direct jurisdiction of the current administration of the police," the speaker continued.