Court awards widow N200m over police killing of husband in Osun

From Godwin Tsa, Abuja

The Federal High Court, Abuja, has awarded N200 million against the Nigeria Police Force over the killing of Mallam Kabiru Babai, a truck driver and Imam, by a police sergeant in Osun State in 2021.

In addition, the court ordered the Police Service Commission (PSC), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State, to immediately commence prosecution of the killer police officer, Sgt. Moses Samuel.

Justice Peter Lifu, delivering judgment on July 2, 2026, in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1292/2022, held that the applicant, Balkisu Kabiru Babai, had established on the preponderance of affidavit evidence that her husband’s fundamental right to life under Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was unlawfully violated.

According to the suit, Babai, a truck driver, philanthropist and breadwinner of his family was fixing a mechanical fault on his truck around Ota-Efun, Osogbo, at about 5pm on December 3, 2021, when police officers arrived in a minibus and confronted the driver.

The suit states that an officer shot the co-driver, Harisu Musa, in the hand. When Babai emerged from under the truck to ask why the driver had been shot, an unidentified officer allegedly struck him with a shovel and kicked him repeatedly, before Sergeant Moses Samuel hit him with a gun butt and shot him in the chest. Babai died on the spot, the bullet having penetrated his heart.

The suit further states that the officers fled the scene but one was apprehended by bystanders and taken, along with Babai’s body to the police command. The body was later moved to the morgue at Uniosun Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, before burial in Bauchi State. The suit noted the police indicted Sgt. Samuel over the killing but had not prosecuted him as of the time of filing the suit.

Okpi Bernard Adaafu on the widow’s behalf, following a brief from the Muslim Community of Gwarimpa Estate, filed the case on August 3, 2022, Abuja.

The court declared the killing unlawful and an infringement of Babai’s right to life. It ordered the Police Service Commission, the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State, to immediately commence prosecution of Sgt. Samuel.