A Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa has awarded a teenager ₦3 million as damages in a fundamental rights suit.
The teenager is facing trial for allegedly circulating a nude video of a retired permanent secretary in the state Walton Liverpool.
It was gathered that the teenager allegedly shot the video after intercourse with Mr Liverpool at a hotel in Yenagoa in August 2021.
The minor, through her lawyer Andrew Arthur, sued Liverpool and the Department of State Services (DSS) for her arrest and detention for 13 days without trial.
The Nation reports that it got hold of the judgement delivered on March 31, 2022 on Thursday where Justice Ebiyerin Omukoro awarded the damages and an additional N300,000 as penalty for breaching the teenager’s fundamental rights.
According to the court, Liverpool is to pay ₦1 million, while the DSS will pay an additional ₦2 million to the teenager as damages.
Umukoro noted that while Liverpool had submitted a petition against the teenager to the police who arrested her and later granted her bail, he submitted the same petition to DSS for the same offence.
He ruled that using multiple security agencies to detain the teenager amounted to intimidation and highhandedness which breached the fundamental rights of the teenager.
The DSS has filed an appeal in Port Harcourt to challenge the decision of the Bayelsa State High Court on the fundamental human rights enforcement of the teenager.
