The Federal High Court, Abuja has ordered the Nigerian Army to pay the sum of N50,000,000 to Honorable Kpam Jimin Sokpo, who was slapped and brutalized by military operatives.
The former lawmaker, who represented Buruku Federal Constituency, Benue state in the 10th National Assembly (2019-2023), sued the Chief of Army Staff(COAS), and Nigeria Army (1st and 2nd defendants) in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/603/2023, alleging the military brutalized and illegally detained him while he was preparing for the gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly election holding on 18th March 2023.
Sokpo’s lawyer, Gwaza L. Shenge, argued that his client was detained for many hours by some military officers against his will while bleeding and left for death thereby suffering grave medical damage to his body as a result.
Shenge argued,
- “On the night of 17th March 2023, the Applicant, alongside some of his aides and friends were within Oldbarn Hotels Ltd, Gboko, Benue State, in preparation for the rescheduled Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly election held on 18th March 2023, and was about to retire for the night, when he was suddenly attacked by unknown men in military fatigue.
- “Some of the men approached him but they were not wearing the customary name tags for identification, or any sign of their unit within the Army. Upon introducing himself as a member of the House of Representatives, without provocation, one of the men in military uniform slapped him across the face and asked another personnel to do the same, which he did.
- “As he sought to know what his offence was, about ten members of the team came upon him, hitting and beating him and also used the butt of the gun to hit him on the head and body multiple times, causing serious injury.”
The lawyer prayed to the court to award N500 million in damages against the military and declare their violation of his fundamental rights, unlawful and unconstitutional.
He identified the men involved to be those from the Special Operations Unit, 72 Brigade, Makurdi.
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Response of the Army
In the army’s counter affidavit, Omobolanle P. Dada Esq argued that the Chief of Army Staff is a military appointment at the discretion of the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and that no officer was deployed to brutalize a civilian.
Dada argued that the Chief of Army Staff sent a signal to Brigadier General Al-Amin Rabiu to report at the Army Headquarters for a briefing on the matter, adding the general was not responsible for the deployment of army personnel, neither did he obtain permission and or approval to deploy men of the Nigerian Army to attack the applicant.
The judge’s verdict
In his judgement seen by Nairametrics dated March 11, Justice Inyang Ekwo found that the brutal assault of the ex-lawmaker by men and officers of the Nigerian army from the Special Operation Unit in the 72 Brigade in Makurdi was real and factual based on the evidence placed before him which included a medical report from a hospital.
- “Before ending this judgement, there is a need to say that in a society like ours where life and other fundamental rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, any encroachment on the guaranteed rights must be strictly by the constitutional provisions.
- “The crude exercise of the barbarism of brutal assault of the citizens cannot be allowed to be seen or taken as a norm. The law does not allow infringement of fundamental rights to go without consequences.
- “It is clear from the evidence in this case that the fundamental rights of the Applicant as guaranteed by Ss. 34 and 35 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) has been infringed when on the night of 17th March 2023, the Applicant was beaten, brutalized and hit with rifle butts, handcuffed, and detained by the Respondents’ men and officers. Therefore, the case of the Applicant succeeds on the merit,” Ekwo added.
Subsequently, the judge declared the military’s action unlawful and ordered them to apologize to the ex-lawmaker.
- “An Order is hereby made directing the Respondents jointly and severally to pay the sum of N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira only) to the Applicant as punitive, exemplary and general damages for the violations of his fundamental right to personal liberty and dignity of the human person,” Justice Ekwo ordered.
