Court slams police with N5m over Kwara-lawyer’s harassment

The Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State on Monday slammed five million naira damages against the Inspector General of Police and seven others, over assault on a legal practitioner, Lukman Olanrewaju Bello.
In the judgement delivered by Hon. Justice B. G. Ashigar, the Court held that the treatment meted out to the lawyer by assaulting, arresting and subsequently detaining him, constitute infraction and breach of his fundamental rights to dignity of human person and personal liberty as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
The judge also ordered the police to tender a letter of unalloyed apology to Bello.
Justice Ashigar, granted perpentual injunction restraining the respondent from further arresting, assaulting torturing or holding Bello on detention over the matter
While appreciating the judgment and the Court, Dr. D. A. Ariyoosu who led other lawyers in defence of the complainant, described the judgment as one of the most erudite and all encompassing judgments on Fundamental Human Right proceeding.
He thanked the judge for the well considered judgment.
Recall that on the 16th October, 2018, the law practitioner young lawyer was brutalized, arrested and detained by officers of Nigeria Police at Nigerian Police Training School, Ilorin where he had gone at the behest of a client.
Subsequently, a legal team including three Senior Advocates of Nigeria was set up by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ilorin branch to file a fundamental rights enforcement application on behalf of the lawyer against the Nigeria Police.