An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has ordered a policewoman, Inspector Iniobong Umoren, to pay N10 million as damages for the unlawful arrest of a tricycle rider, Jeremiah Sunday Udo.
Udo had sought the enforcement of his fundamental rights against his unlawful arrest and detention.
It was gathered that Inspector Iniobong Umoren arrested Udo and impounded the tricycle he bought on hire purchase for N1.9m on the directive of the owner of the keke, Mr Udoka David, for Udo failing to meet up with the weekly payment contract.
Udo told the court that he had kept to the N20,000 weekly payment contract of the keke until last year when the naira policy crippled the economy, resulting in him owing for a week’s return.
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Udo said it was a surprise when he was ambushed and arrested on February 12, 2023, after paying David N885,000 out of the N1.9m agreed for the hire purchase of the tricycle.
In his judgment, Justice Ntong Ntong ordered Inspector Umoren and Udoka David to pay Udo N5m each for unlawful arrest and instigating the arrest and detention of the plaintiff for five days without food and water.
The court extricated the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Olatoye Durosinmi, who was joined in the suit as the third respondent, but advised him to warn his officers and men to always carry out their duties within the ambit and purview of the law.
Justice Ntong said, “Inspector Iniobong Umoren quickly impounded the tricycle and handed it over to the first respondent without an order of Court which has the power to interpret the terms of hire purchase agreements between parties and enforce its terms and conditions.
“The first respondent, Mr Udoka David took the law into his hands and lured the Policewoman, who also allowed herself to be led into jettisoning the rule of law using the name of Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police to authenticate her unlawful act.
“Because of greed, Inspector Iniobong Umoren usurped the role of the court and became a law unto herself. Having encroached on the fundamental rights of the Keke man, the law is there to protect the tricyclist from heartless people like Inspector Iniobong Umoren and Mr Udoka David.
“I have read all the processes filed by the parties and discovered that the evidence and documents including the bail bond, the petition and the statements exhibited by the first and second respondents, are doctored and fabricated to mislead the court.
“I urge Inspector Iniobong Umoren and Mr Udoka David in the name of God Almighty, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Inspector General of Police to release forthwith, the applicant’s tricycle pending when a Court of competent jurisdiction will order otherwise under the hire purchase agreement.”
