A advantageous of N5million has been imposed on the Nigeria Police Drive by Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo of the Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja on Wednesday.
The choose imposed the advantageous towards the Nigeria Police Drive over the reckless use of statutory energy towards a Nigerian citizen.
The quantity is to be paid to an Abuja based mostly investor, Hyacinth Soonen Abera, whose checking account with Zenith Financial institution was frozen for a number of months by police whereas performing as a debt collector with out an order of the court docket.
Justice Ekwo, aside from ordering the police to pay the advantageous of N5 million as compensation and exemplary damages to the sufferer of the reckless use of statutory energy, additionally ordered Zenith Financial institution to right away unfreeze the account with quantity 1006911956.
In a judgment in a basic rights enforcement go well with instituted towards 4 defendants, the choose held that the police acted extremely vires by performing as a debt collector in a purely industrial transaction between two events.
The 4 defendants are Oludele Aderibigbe, DSP Yomi Musa, Inspector Common of Police IGP and the Nigeria Police Drive NPF as 1st to 4th defendants respectively.
The choose held that it was unsuitable of the police to have subjected the plaintiff to a sequence of threats of arrest and detention in a easy pure industrial transaction and inserting restriction orders on his checking account with none recourse to the rule of legislation.
The plaintiff had sued the defendants claiming that his basic rights to freedom of liberty and human dignity had been violated and breached by police with persistent threats of arrest and detention on the instigation of the primary defendant and the following freezing order positioned on his Zenith Checking account.
He claimed, amongst others, that the primary defendant entered into an settlement along with his firm, Hysolat Restricted to construct a four-bedroom home for him within the Durumi space of Abuja at a price of N30 million to be paid in instalments inside 11 months.
He claimed that on the finish of the 11 months when N30 million must have been absolutely paid, solely a paltry sum of N5 million was paid prompting the termination of the contract.
He additional claimed that reasonably than on the lookout for treatment, the first defendant resorted to using police towards him and that with out listening to from him, the police brought on Zenith Financial institution to freeze his checking account with none order of court docket.
The plaintiff averred that he and his household had been subjected to untold hardships particularly starvation as a consequence of illegal freezing of his account and demanded N50 million compensation along with order of court docket to unfreeze the account.
Justice Ekwo within the judgment agreed that police acted exterior the 1999 Structure and Police Act in turning itself right into a debt collector in a industrial transaction and in finishing up checking account freezing with out court docket order.
The choose subsequently ordered the police to pay the plaintiff N5 million and Zenith Financial institution instantly unfreeze the account.
A purported order of an Abuja Justice of the Peace Court docket to police to research the plaintiff was voided and put aside on the bottom that the Justice of the Peace court docket has no jurisdiction within the matter because it was not a landlord and tenant difficulty.
