Connect with us

News

#OurMumuDonDo! Court orders Police to pay Charly Boy N50 million as damages

Published

charlyboy lambasts rochas okorocha in new video



A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Nigeria Police Force, IGP and the FCT Commissioner of Police to pay N50m to Charles Oputa, a.k.a Charly Boy, the convener of ‘OurMumuDonDo’ movement.

Justice John Tsoho awarded the amount on Monday while delivering judgment in a fundamental rights suit brought against the Police by Charly Boy.

He said the sum was a compensation for the violation of his rights to dignity of the human person, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.

READ ALSO! YOU ARE MY FRIEND! But I cannot support Buhari, Femi Kuti tells Osinbajo

Tsoho added that the Police should publish an apology to Charly Boy in two national newspapers.

In a suit filed on March 29, Charly Boy had accused the Police and their officers of harassing him and members of the OurMumuDonDo campaign during the #ResumeOrResign protests.

MORE READING!  Sowore condemns arrest of VeryDarkMan, others, calls for immediate release

Charly Boy, through his lawyer, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, argued that the Police attacked the group during a peaceful demonstration at the Unity Fountain in Abuja.

He asked the court to determine whether the

“use of water cannons, tear gas canisters and wild Police dogs to harass him and members of his group during the said peaceful protest on August 8, 2017 was constitutional.”

He argued that the act was an infringement on his fundamental rights, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association as enshrined in sections 34, 39, and 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

Charly Boy, therefore, prayed the court to make a compelling order on the FCT Police and their commissioner to publish a public apology to him in five national newspapers.

READ ALSO! INCEST! I slept with my 15-year-old daughter to have more children, says child molester

He also demanded that payment of the sum of N100 million as general damages be awarded to the applicant as well as direct that N400 million be paid as exemplary damages by the Police.

MORE READING!  Nationwide blackout imminent as national grid collapses

Delivering judgment on the case marked as Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/343/2018, Justice Tsoho held that there was no evidence that miscreants invaded or stormed the premises of the protest as alleged by the police.

On whether the Applicant was entitled to stage the protest, the court held that protest is a constitutionally-guaranteed right, provided it is done peacefully.

“The Respondents (the Police) need not exercise an uncommon aggression and mayhem to ward off alleged miscreants.

“The law is that the court has the right to grant redress to anyone whose right is violated and the applicant is entitled to a remedy.

“Relief four is granted and the respondents are ordered to publish an apology to the applicant in two national newspapers for violating his fundamental rights.

“The sum of N50m is awarded against the respondents as general and exemplary damages,’’ Tsoho ruled.

Reacting to the judgment, Charly Boy’s counsel, Effiong, described it as

“a resounding victory for democracy, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in the country.”

READ ALSO! GET WELL SOON! Banky W battles food poisoning

 

“This judgment sends unequivocal message to the Nigerian Police that they have no power to stop or disrupt peaceful protests by Nigerians.

“The Police, by this judgment, cannot invent flimsy excuses to stop citizens from exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“I am highly elated by this victory for democracy,’’ Effiong said.

(NAN)

MORE READING!  NSCDC busts illegal refineries with 26 reservoirs in Rivers
Advertisement
Comments



Trending