Court fines DSS for illegal detention of ex-corper

The Punch - Nigeria

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Director General of the Department of State Service, Ita Ekpeyong, and a complainant, Kola James, to pay N1m to a former corps member, Alli Bello, for being illegally arrested and detained.
Justice Evoh Chukwu, in his judgment on the fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed by Bello, held that the robbery allegation, which was the basis for arresting, torturing and detaining the applicant between September 17 and 26, 2012, was unreasonable.
Bello was arrested on September 17, 2012 during his service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme for allegedly robbing James in company with his gang members.
He was detained in both Lagos and Abuja facilities of the DSS.
But he insisted in his suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/710/2012, filed on November 7, 2012, that he had no link to the said robbery incident.
He argued that the “dehumanising treatment” meted out to him by the DSS upon instigation by the complainant “for no offence” infringed on his fundamental rights.
The court agreed with Bello. Apart from ordering the respondents to pay N1m to him, it ordered James to pay N100,000 to him as cost of prosecuting the case.
The court also ordered both the DSS and James to tender apology to the former corps member in a national daily newspaper.
The judgment was delivered on November 6, 2014, but a copy of it was made available to our correspondent on Wednesday.
The court ruled, “The applicant is entitled to damages and apology from the respondent
“The respondents are to pay the applicant joint and severally the sum of N1m.
“The respondent is to bear the cost of this action which is assessed at N100,000.”
The court also said the DSS did the bidding of James.
It said, “In effect, for SSS (DSS) to arrest the applicant, they ought and must have been persuaded of the guilt of the accused.
“They cannot bolster up their assurance of the strength of the case by seeking further evidence and detaining the applicant in Lagos and taking him to Abuja shopping for further evidence….”
The DSS never showed up in court despite evidence of being served with the processes. The court held that failure of the DSS to respond to the suit amounted to an admission of the claim of the applicant.