The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Police Service Commission (PSC) have been ordered to pay ₦ 100,000 million in damages by a Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo.
Naijaonpoint reports that the court on Monday imposed ₦100,000 million damages on Egbetokun, the NPF, and the PSC for breaching the law in their attempt to stop the February 22, 2025, local government election in Osun State.
Honourable Justice A. A Demi-Ajayi, while delivering judgment in the suit marked FHC/OS/CS/41/2025, held that the sealing of the offices of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) and arrest of staff of the commission in the build-up to the election was unlawful as the Police authority failed to provide any law that was broken to warrant its action.
The judge noted that the evidence presented before the court showed that the election was held in compliance with the relevant sections of the Electoral Act, 2022, and other enabling laws, leaving the Police with no legal justification to interfere with the process.
The suit, which has the OSSIEC and its Chairman, Barrister Hashim Abioye as claimants, had prayed the court to hold that the action of the Inspector-General of Police and officers of the Nigerian Police in sealing Commission’sission’s Head office and offices across the state a few hours to the local governments election in the state, the threat to arrest OSSIEC Chairman, and eventually arrests of ad-hoc officers engaged by it, was unlawful.
In suit, the claimants asked the court to determine “whether the plaintiffs, generally, severally and variously, are not entitled to enjoy their fundamental rights to liberty, right to private life, right to dignity of human person and right to own movable and immovable property as enshrined under Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.”
They also contended that the action of the Police reflected partisanship and urged the court to declare the arrest and detention of staff Commission in the build-up to the February 22, 2025, local government election as illegal and unlawful, “while the threat of further arrest and/or continuing detention of the plaintiffs’ staff by the defendants is illegal, unlawful.”
Besides, the claimants argued that the local government’s election was ordered by the court and described the conduct of the Police as an affront to the judiciary, which they prayed the court to hold against the IGP and the Police authority by awarding an aggravated damage of N2 billion against them.
The claimants request that the court restrain the IGP or any of its agents from continuing to overreach their power by interfering with the Commission’s lawful duties, and plead with the court to grant their request in the interest of justice.
However, the defendant acknowledged the sealing off of the offices of OSSIEC and the arrest of its staff, stating that the step was a preemptive measure to prevent the commission of a crime.
In an affidavit deposed to by Inspector Ogunmokun Abiodun, the Police noted that its action was not carried out arbitrarily but “was founded on the credible suspicion their engagement in actions deemed to have violated the Electoral laws and other applicable laws as opposed to the averment contained in paragraph 14 of the plaintiffs’ affidavit.”
He contended that the claimants had exaggerated the development, as the Police only performed their duty of ensuring peace and order, urging the court to dismiss the suit as frivolous.
He denied the allegation of partisanship raised against the IGP and the Police authority by the plaintiffs, noting that it was acting within the scope of its constitutional and statutory duties.
Reacting to the judgment, OSSIEC Chairman, Hashim Abioye, extolled the judiciary, asserting that justice has been served. He also commended the legal team led by Maruf Adediran Esq., saying that history already has in its records the illegal action of the Police in interfering with grassroots democracy in Osun State, and that at every time, that book will speak to the generations to come.
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