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Court Awards Journalist N300,000 for Assault,
Unlawful Detention
Lagos, Wednesday, October 27, 1999:
An Ikeja High Court in Lagos has awarded the Assistant News Editor of
The Punch newspaper, Mr. Adewale Adeoye, the sum of N300,000 as
damages for the violation of his fundamental rights when he was illegally
detained and assaulted by the Police in June this year.
Ruling on Tuesday, October 26, 1999 in a suit filed on his
behalf by Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Justice Afolabi Adeyinka upheld
Adeoye’s claim that the assault on him by the Police and his detention on
June 25 constituted a breach of his fundamental rights as guaranteed by
Sections 33, 34, and 41 of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 3(2), 4, 5,
6 and 12(1) and (6) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Mr. Adeoye, who is also the Chairman of Journalists for
Democratic Rights (JODER), a non-governmental organization, was detained
overnight on June 25, 1999 after being severely beaten by Police men and
members of the Lagos State anti-robbery team, Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
MRA’s Legal Officer, Mrs. Ikhiwi Omonkhua, filed a suit at
the Ikeja High Court on his behalf on July 23, 1999, challenging the
action of the security agents as a violation of his constitutional rights
to personal liberty, security of his person, and freedom from inhuman and
degrading treatment and claiming N30 million against the Police as general
damages and aggravated damages.
Named as defendants in the suit were the Attorney-General
of Lagos State, the State’s Commissioner of Police; the Ogudu Police
Station in Lagos; the Rapid Response Squad, and Officer Olaniyan of the
Ogudu Police Station.
Following the persistent failure of the Police to appear in
court to defend the suit, Justice Adeyinka granted Mrs. Omonkhua’s request
that she should be allowed to argue the case of Mr. Adeoye on its merits.
She referred the court to a 21-paragraph affidavit deposed
to by Mr. Adeoye in support of the motion to enforce his fundamental
rights and argued that the series of events narrated in the affidavit
establish that Mr. Adeoye’s rights guaranteed by both the 1999
Constitution and the African Charter had been violated.
She argued that no matter how short the detention was, once
the court finds that it was unjustified, it would amount to a violation of
Mr. Adeoye’s fundamental rights.
Mrs. Omonkhua noted that the Police had not contradicted
the allegations and such, the court must accept the facts as proved and
accordingly act on them. She therefore asked the court to make the
declarations and orders sought by Mr. Adeoye in the suit.
In his ruling, Justice Adeyinka declared
that the assault on Mr. Adeoye by the
security agents constituted a breach on his
fundamental human rights as it amounted to a
gross violation of his rights to life, dignity of human person, personal
liberty and security of his person guaranteed under Sections 33, 34 and 41
of the 1999 Constitution as well as Articles 5 and 6 of the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act,
Cap 10. Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.
He also declared that Mr. Adeoye’s arbitrary
arrest and detention without a warrant and for an offence not stated in
law or in the Constitution constituted a breach
of his fundamental rights guaranteed under Sections 34, 35 and 41 of the
1999 Constitution and Articles 3(2), 4, 5, 6, and 12(1) of the African
Charter.
The judge held that the
inhuman and degrading treatment meted out to
Mr. Adeoye by the Police was
a violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed under Section 34, of the
1999 Constitution and Articles 12(1) and 5 of the African Charter.
He ordered the Police to
publicly apologize to Mr. Adeoye for the
violation of his fundamental rights in accordance with Section
35(6) of the 1999 Constitution and awarded him damages of N300,000.
A wave of excitement trailed the ruling with Mr. Adeoye
describing it as “a momentous victory for democracy and the rule of law
over brute force.”
Contact:
Ikhiwi Omonkhua
Legal Officer
Media Rights Agenda
Tel. & Fax: 01-4930831
E-mail:
mra@mediarightsagenda.org |
