Alleged Rights Violation: Plaintiffs Seek N110m Compensation, Release

Three Nigerian citizens have approached a High Court of Justice in Enugu state with a fundamental human rights enforcement suit against the Nigerian Police Force for an alleged violation of their rights through illegal detentions.

In the suit filed before the court, the plaintiffs, Hon. Ofor Chika Raphael, Hon. Hypolite Okafor, and Ude Augustina, demand N100 million for their ill-treatment and N10 million in general damages.

The applicants asked the court to order the Nigeria Police Division in Awgu, the Inspector General of Police, and the Commissioner of Police to release them.

According to their lawyers, the three applicants, who are indigenes of Awgu, in Enugu state and members of the Voice Awgu Egeleli Forum, were arrested in connection with the controversy over the DPO’s indiscriminate arrest and extortion of members of the community for bail.

He said Mr Christopher Api and his wife were first arrested and detained on January 22, and Augustina, who went to give them food in the cell, was also arrested and imprisoned.

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Furthermore, the DPO allegedly ordered Okafor’s arrest when he also visited the police station to press for the release of community association members.

They are pleading that unless the court issues an urgent order for their release, their lives may be in danger, having been detained for more than one week.

They want a declaration that the persistent threats to arrest and detain the applicants indefinitely on personal vendetta by the 1st Respondent, the DPO of Awgu Police Station, over petitions previously written against him, by the applicants when the Applicants have not committed any offence known to the law, amount to a breach or is likely to breach the fundamental rights of the applicant as provided for in sections 35(1) and 41, of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Articles 6, and 12(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap A9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and are therefore unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal, wrongful and amount to flagrant abuse of the fundamental rights of the Applicant.