COURT SLAMS #50M DAMAGES ON POLICE
JUSTICE finally smiled on one Joseph Martins, who was shot by a policeman in Abuja, as the Abuja High Court ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to pay him the sum of N50 million as damages. The trial judge, Justice Olasunbo Goodluck, in her judgment, delivered on Thursday, in the suit filed since 2013, held that the police should pay the plaintiff the money as compensation, for inflicting bodily harm and injuries on him (Martins), as well as for deprivation and psychological trauma he had suffered as a result of the gunshot from the police officer. Martins’ ordeal started in 2013, when a Sergeant, Olumide Ariyo, deliberately shot him at a football viewing centre, at Utako District of Abuja, where he went to watch Nigeria vs Liverpool match. Martins, a bricklayer, said in an affidavit that he was shot by Ariyo on that fateful day for challenging him to pay for the two bottles of beer he consumed at the joint. He averred in the 38-paragraph affidavit that he met Sergeant Ariyo, armed with an AK-47 rifle alongside some people at the joint, pointing out that the policeman was posted to be on guard duty at RCC, Utako, by the Commander, Special Protection Unit, Base 7 of the FCT Police Command. He said Ariyo bought two bottles of beer and refused to pay the bar tender, who was a small lady and was walking away, claiming to be a uniform man, who was immune from payment for any number of bottles of beer consumed. “I intervened by telling him not to use his uniform to intimidate and cheat the innocent girl and to also avoid been insulted while on uniform, on account of his refusal to pay his bill. “He became angry and threatened to kill me and thereafter lose his job and nothing will happen. True to his threat, he corked his gun and shot at me in the thigh, leaving my bone completely broken and shattered. The matter was well reported by many newspapers,” he said. He added that people around overpowered the trigger-happy police sergeant and disarmed him, after which they called the Divisional Police Officer, Utako, who took Ariyo to the station. After the incident, Martins was dumped at Wuse General Hospital in Abuja and the bullet was in his thigh for 25 days before it was finally removed at the Air force Hospital close to Abuja Airport. Martins’ legal battle to get justice started in December 2013, when his condition attracted an Abuja-based lawyer, Tolu Babaleye, who took the matter to court after writing petitions to various offices of government in protest, but nothing was done. Babaleye filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit on behalf of Joseph Martins with the IGP, FCT Police Commissioner, the Commander, Special Protection Unit, Base 7, FCT Command and the Police Service Commission as respondents. Justice Goodluck, in her judgment, held that the action of the police Sergeant by shooting the plaintiff on the thigh was illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of Martins’ right to life, personal liberty, dignity of his person and right and freedom of movement as enshrined in the constitution. The judge awarded the sum of N50 million to be paid to Martins as compensation for the injuries on him, as well as for deprivation and psychological trauma he suffered as a result of the illegal act of the Sergeant. The court also ordered the IGP to produce and charge Sergeant Ariyo to court for attempted murder of Martins instead of assault he was earlier charged for before a Magistrates’ Court by the police. Justice Goodluck, in the judgment, berated the policeman and said he was a disgrace to the Police Force for infamous conduct of visiting a beer parlour for a drink with his service gun. Commenting on the decision of the court, Babaleye, who handled the matter free-of-charge for the plaintiff, said he was thankful to God and grateful to the judge for doing judicial activism on the matter. He reaffirmed his belief in Nigeria and the judiciary as the last hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed in the society. Top Stories Read more at:
