The officers of the Nigeria Police Force will not desist from using force against harmless civilians until they are taught very bitter lessons.
The matter of a Lagos couple tortured by a policeman, Dada Ogunsanya, who is attached to the Ikoyi Police Division, has finally taken a legal dimension as the couple has sued the Nigeria Police Force and the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, for N100m damages.
Also joined in the suit are the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Cornelius Aderanti, and the power-drunk police corporal, Ogunsanya.
Ejeh Smith and his wife, Grace, in a suit filed by their counsel, Austin Audu, before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State, also wanted the police to publish a public apology in a national newspaper. Audu, a lawyer with the Femi Falana Chamber, said that the case was ready.
A 15-page application dated December 22, 2014, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, indicated that the counsel would be suing for “the enforcement of fundamental rights to life, liberty and dignity of the human person.”
The lawyer said he believed the court would grant the reliefs sought in the application to help sanitise the police.
It was earlier reported how Ejeh and his wife, Grace, were on their way home in a cab around the Lekki area of Lagos State, when Ogunsanya stopped the driver.
Our correspondent reported that after conducting a routine check on the cab and the driving licence of the driver, Ogunsanya beamed his torch on the passengers.
They were said to have protested against the action, saying the inner lights of the cab were on and there was no need for the torch.
In the ensuing argument, which degenerated to a scuffle, the police corporal allegedly tortured the couple by hitting Ejeh in the eye with the butt of his rifle and stepping on his wife’s stomach.
The Ikoyi Divisional Police Officer, Aisha Haruna, was alleged to have backed the police corporal’s action.
She was also said to have deleted Grace’s recordings of the incident from her phone. The police authorities had ordered a full-scale investigation into the matter, just as angry Nigerians called for the punishment of both the DPO and the policeman.
A Lagos-based lawyer, Femi Falana, had promised to take up the case of the victims, including claiming damages for them. Falana, whose chamber eventually took over the case, filed for N100m damages.
Part of the relief sought in the application included, “A declaration that the assault meted out on the applicants by officer of the 1st , 2nd, and 3rd respondents(IG, NPF and CP) on the December, 3, 2014, at the Ikoyi Lekki link bridge roundabout, Ikoyi, Lagos, is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates the applicant’s fundamental rights to life, liberty, and dignity of human person 34, 35 and 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), and Article 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap 9) Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“An order directing the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respondents to set up an investigation panel to investigate the assault mete out on the applicant and carry out disciplinary measures against the culprits and the outcome made public.
“An order directing the respondents, severally and jointly, to pay the sum of N100,000,000.00k (One Hundred Million Naira Only) as compensation to the applicants for the infringement of their right to life, liberty, and dignity of the human person.”
It added that the court should determine whether the rights of the applicants had not been violated in the light of constitutional provisions and whether they were not entitled to be compensated accordingly.
Credits: Punch
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