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• Orders prosecution of killer policeman
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 Command, to immediately commence the prosecution of the 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, imam, philanthropist and breadwinner of his family — was fixing a mechanical fault on his truck around Ota-Efun, Osogbo, at about 5 p.m. 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 co-driver had been shot, an unidentified officer allegedly struck him with a shovel and kicked him repeatedly before Sgt. 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 the Osun State University Teaching Hospital (UNIOSUNTH), Osogbo, before burial in Bauchi State. The suit noted that the police indicted Sgt. Samuel over the killing but had not prosecuted him as of the time of filing.
The case was filed on August 3, 2022, by Barr. Okpi Bernard Adaafu on the widow’s behalf, following a brief from the Muslim Community of Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja.
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The respondents were the Police Service Commission, the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police (Osun State), Sgt. Moses Samuel and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF). The applicant sought N2 billion in damages along with declaratory and prosecutorial orders.
During the hearing, the AGF raised a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the Abuja Division and his status as a necessary party, while the second and third respondents argued that Sgt. Samuel had acted outside the scope of his duty.
However, the applicant’s counsel, Okpi Bernard Adaafu, countered that the officer was on official duty at the time and that the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, rather than the ordinary Federal High Court Rules, governed the matter.
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 Command, to immediately commence the prosecution of Sgt. Samuel.
It awarded N200 million against the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police and Sgt. Samuel as compensation and exemplary damages for the killing and for the loss of affection, companionship and psychological trauma suffered by the widow and her children.
The court, however, refused the relief seeking an order compelling the AGF to institute criminal proceedings against Sgt. Samuel.
