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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
An Enugu High Court presided over by Justice Okey Anike has awarded N5 million in damages against the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, for the unlawful detention of the President-General of Ukana Town Union, Pastor Francis Aneke.
The judgment was delivered in the fundamental rights enforcement suit marked AHW/46M/24, in which Pastor Aneke was the 1st applicant and the Inspector-General of Police the sole respondent.
The court found that Aneke was detained for four days without being charged, in violation of his constitutional rights, and held that the action of the police constituted an infringement on his personal liberty.
In addition to the monetary compensation, Justice Anike granted an order of injunction restraining the police and other agents from further harassing, intimidating, or detaining the applicant unlawfully.
“I granted him bail as a result of this action. I am not presiding over a criminal trial. What I am presiding is the substantial case brought before me,” the judge explained during proceedings.
In a related matter, the court returned for reassignment a contempt application ad subjiciendum filed by Pastor Aneke and nine others against Deacon Okey Ogbodo, the Commissioner for Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Enugu State, and 24 others.
The applicants are seeking to commit the respondents for contempt over alleged disobedience of a subsisting court order.
