A Bauchi High Court has awarded N1.2m in damages against the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police in the state for the illegal detention and breach of the fundamental rights of a politician, Nasiru Darazo.
The court, presided over by Justice Gurama Mahmoud, in its ruling on Friday, declared that the arrest and detention of Darazo was unconstitutional and an infringement on his human rights.
The court also restrained the IG and his agents from further arresting or detaining the applicant.
Reacting to the ruling, Darazo’s lawyer, Summi Bayero, stated, “The court has further established that it is the last resort and hope of the common man. The ruling is also a testimony that those in authority cannot misuse their powers and go scot-free.”
Bayero said the next step was to enforce the ruling in order to serve as a relief to his client, who he noted had suffered mental and emotional torture by the act of the respondents.
Darazo had sometime in 2018 sued the IG and the state Commissioner of Police before the state High Court demanding the sum of N50m as damages for alleged illegal detention and violation of his human rights.
He alleged that a team identified as the IG Police Squad from Abuja, in conjunction with some policemen from the Bauchi State Command, stormed his house, forcefully seized his mobile phone and arrested him.
According to Darazo, when he demanded the reason for his arrest, one of the police officers said he had no right to know because his arrest “was ordered from above.”
He further said that moves by his lawyer to ensure his release on bail was rebuffed by the police, adding that the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department later released him, but his telephone was withheld and returned to him after two days.
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The court, presided over by Justice Gurama Mahmoud, in its ruling on Friday, declared that the arrest and detention of Darazo was unconstitutional and an infringement on his human rights.
The court also restrained the IG and his agents from further arresting or detaining the applicant.
Reacting to the ruling, Darazo’s lawyer, Summi Bayero, stated, “The court has further established that it is the last resort and hope of the common man. The ruling is also a testimony that those in authority cannot misuse their powers and go scot-free.”
Bayero said the next step was to enforce the ruling in order to serve as a relief to his client, who he noted had suffered mental and emotional torture by the act of the respondents.
Darazo had sometime in 2018 sued the IG and the state Commissioner of Police before the state High Court demanding the sum of N50m as damages for alleged illegal detention and violation of his human rights.
He alleged that a team identified as the IG Police Squad from Abuja, in conjunction with some policemen from the Bauchi State Command, stormed his house, forcefully seized his mobile phone and arrested him.
According to Darazo, when he demanded the reason for his arrest, one of the police officers said he had no right to know because his arrest “was ordered from above.”
He further said that moves by his lawyer to ensure his release on bail was rebuffed by the police, adding that the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department later released him, but his telephone was withheld and returned to him after two days.
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