Police Ordered To Compensate N50m For Controversial Arrest Of Abiola’s Widow In Nightgown

Police Ordered To Compensate N50m For Controversial Arrest Of Abiola’s Widow In Nightgown....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Gudu, Abuja, issued a directive on Thursday, compelling the Inspector-General of Police to pay a sum of N50 million in damages to Prof Zainab Abiola, the widow of the late Chief M. K. O. Abiola. The court found the police guilty of violating her fundamental rights by apprehending and parading her in public while she was clad only in a nightgown……..CONTINUE READING

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In the ruling delivered by Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi, it was decreed that the police issue a public apology to Prof Zainab Abiola, to be published in two national newspapers. The legal action, filed as a fundamental human rights enforcement suit with the reference FCT/HC/CV/2431/2023, targeted the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force, Inspector Teju Moses, and Engineer Ibrahim (son of former IGP Usman Alkali Baba) as co-defendants.

According to Abiola, the police unlawfully invaded her Abuja residence in 2022, arresting her while she was attired in a nightgown and subsequently detaining and subjecting her to torture for three days without any trial. The respondents, however, asserted their lack of familiarity with Abiola and contested the veracity of the allegations.

In the judgment’s Certified True Copy, Justice Osho-Adebiyi emphasized that the detention of Abiola without presenting her before a competent court constituted a severe violation of her right to personal liberty as stipulated in Section 35 of the constitution, deeming it both unlawful and unconstitutional.

The court further ruled that the arrest of Abiola in her nightgown without allowing her the chance to dress properly infringed upon her right to personal dignity. The act of parading her in such a state was deemed even more degrading and a further violation of her right to personal dignity.

Consequently, the court awarded a compensation of N50,000,000.00 to Abiola, to be paid jointly by the first, second, and fourth respondents. The police were also mandated to issue a public apology to Abiola in two national daily newspapers in accordance with the provisions of Section 35(6) I of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

The initial accusations against Abiola by the police involved alleged assault on a female police officer, Inspector Teju Moses, alongside her domestic staff, Rebecca Enechido, at her Garki residence in the FCT on September 20, 2022.

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