A Kaduna State High Court has threatened to jail the Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Maj. Gen. Muhammed Idris, for disobeying the order of the court in respect to its ruling on two landed properties.

The court’s threat was contained in “Form 48” dated May 25, 2015 and signed by the Registrar of the Court.

The court’s ‘Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to Court Order’ warned the commandant of the consequences of disobeying court order.
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It read, “To Major General Muhammed Inuwa Idris (Commandant of Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna). Take notice that unless you obey the directions contained in this Order, you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison.”

It was learnt that the two properties in contention were both located in the Barnawa Government Reserved Area, Kaduna, and that they formerly belonged to NDA but had been sold to the occupants, late Mr. Joseph Kingo Lafidi and late D. Akpam respectively, who were then civilian staff of the military institution through the Federal Government’s Presidential Implementation Committee.

But widows of the deceased NDA employees, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Lafidi and Dorcas D. Akpam, were allegedly evicted from the property by the NDA authority in 2010 thus leading to a judicial battle.

The court ruled in favour of the widows in April 2014 but the NDA commandant was said to have refused to obey the court ruling, erecting a fence on the property and posted soldiers to guard same.