Two sons of the late politician Moshood Abiola – Kassim and Aliyu Abiola – have filed legal action against the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Hakeem Odumosu for alleged infringements of their rights.
In the suit filed by their lawyer Mike Ozekhome, the two men want the court to grant them N100 million as damages, claiming they were unlawfully arrested and detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Ikeja, Lagos following a complaint by their stepmother Adebisi Abiola after the robbery incident of September 2.
The police had said some family members and workers were arrested and questioned over the robbery incident.
Apart from a court order for public apology, the duo prayed the court to declare that “their arrest without warrant and subsequent and continuous dehumanization and detention since the September 2, 2020, by operatives of the respondent on the alleged complaint of one Mrs. Adebisi Abiola, is illegal, unlawful, wrongful and constitutes a blatant violation of the Applicants’ fundamental rights as enshrined in Section 35 (1) (4) & (6), 37, 41 (1), 44 (1) and 46(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as altered, Sections 2, 3(1) (2), 17(1) (2), 18 (1) (2) (3), 19, 21 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, Lagos State, 2015, and Articles 5, 6 & 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights Ratification and Enforcement Act Cap A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.”
The applicants told the court that their stepmother accused them of complicity in the robbery and that they were detained despite nothing incriminating found on them after police searches.
In an affidavit deposed to by a lawyer in Ozekhome’s chamber Ubong Ikon, the applicants alleged that police officers forcibly broke into their homes and arrested them with seven other people.
On Thursday at the Ikeja High Court, the applicants filed an ex parte motion and an affidavit of urgency, praying the court to hear their case within the ongoing vacation period.
Their lawyers urged Justice Abiola Soladoye to grant them bail, citing poor health and lengthy detention.
Justice Soladoye directed that the police commissioner be notified about the suit and adjourned the case to October 15.
She also ordered that the case file be returned to the assistant chief registrar for re-assignment to a non-vacation judge for hearing.
