The Nigeria Police Force has been ordered to pay one Victor Ogbonna the sum of N3 billion as compensation for the torture he faced in the hands of the disbanded Eagle Crack unit in 2019.
The order was issued in favour of the trader by Justice Stephen Daylop-Pam of a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The trader had dragged the Inspector General of Police and eight others to court for torturing him and causing the death of one of his allies, Chima Ikwunado.
Ogbonna filed a fundamental human rights suit against the defendants.
Stating while the court N3bn as damages to Ogbonna, Justice Daylop-Pam ruled that the plaintiff was able to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt.
The counsel for the plaintiff and Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt Branch, Emmanuel Okpala, while reacting to the court’s verdict, praised the judiciary for upholding the law.
The lawyer insisted that other officers that may have been abusing the law will learn from the judgment of the court.
Okpala stated, “I have been able to get judgment in respect of Mr Ifeanyi Osuji against the Inspector General of Police.
“We also got judgement in the case involving Ifeanyi Omyekwere against the Inspector General of Police today.
“We got judgment in the case of Victor Ogbonna against the Inspector General of Police. These are the three boys out of the five that were arrested and tortured by the then Eagle-Crack Squad Police Unit at the Mile 1 Police Station in Port Harcourt.
“One of them died in police detention as a result of complications arising from the torture. The four other boys survived the torture, though they could have died.
“They sustained various degrees of internal and external injuries. So we filed fundamental human rights proceedings at the Federal High Court.
“And like I said, this is the fourth judgment we have gotten in respect of the fundamental human rights proceedings we initiated.
“Today the Federal High Court 4 president over by Honourable Justice Stephen Daylop-Pam delivered judgement and awarded N3bn against the Nigerian Police for turturing innocent citizen. ”
It was observed that the Nigerian Police had yet to pay the N5 million earlier awarded as damages in favour of Ifeanyi Osuji by Justice James Omotoso, N5 million in favour of Ifeanyi Onyekwere by Justice Phoebe Ayua, and N75 million in favour of the family of the late Chima Ikwunado by Justice Mark of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.