On Wednesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police to pay N100 million to a lady, Mrs Mary Kajo, in compensation for her husband’s arrest, wrongful imprisonment, torture, and alleged murder.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, who delivered the verdict, also ordered the police to pay the cost of bringing the petition, which was N500,000.
Justice Ekwo imposed a 5% post-judgment interest on the fine until the judgment debt was fully satisfied. The judge, who noted that the police authorities did not oppose the applicant’s claims, stated: “The position of the law remains that affidavit evidence which is not challenged or controverted howsoever, is deemed admitted and can be relied upon by a court.”
He consequently decided that the assassination of late Mark in custody by police personnel was unjust, illegal, and unconstitutional.
He argued that it breached Mark’s constitutional rights under Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, CAP.A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He stated that the dead had a basic right to life, which is guaranteed and enforced by law.
“I find that the applicant has established that the fundamental rights of her husband, Mr Mark Kajo, have been breached by the inexplicable cold-blooded extra-judicial killing of the deceased in the custody of the 1st to 3rd respondents.
“Nothing can ever be more barbaric and nastier than this kind of death in the hands of law enforcement agents whose statutory and constitutional duty is to protect lives and property.
“By not filing any process in this case, I presume that the 1st— 3rd respondents are least perturbed about such loss of a citizen’s life in their custody and the outcome of this suit.
“Where it is established that the fundamental right of a citizen has been breached, the law is trite that damages in compensation, legally and naturally follow every act of violation of citizen’s fundamental right;” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported that Mary Kajo, in a suit labeled FHC/ABJ/CS/600/2023, named the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector General, Benue Commissioner of Police, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as the 1st to 4th respondents, respectively.
In the sworn affidavit dated May 2, 2023, Mary stated that her husband, a plumber, was arrested, held in custody, and subjected to torture by the police, ultimately being executed without due process. She recounted that on January 1, 2018, her husband was apprehended by police officers near Wurukum Market in Makurdi.
According to her, on that fateful day, her husband left their residence to buy medicine for their ailing child, who woke up feeling unwell. However, he neither returned home nor contacted them to inquire about the sick child’s condition.
She explained that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Benue Police Headquarters in Makurdi informed her that a certain Aondover, held in their custody, had confessed to stealing a car and implicating her husband, Mark.
Mary asserted that her husband was subsequently transferred to the Police Headquarters in Abuja and then referred to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) at Area 3.
The mother of five went on to claim that during the North-Central Zone hearing of the Presidential Panel on SARS Reform in 2018, the police asserted that her husband had been killed in custody by armed thugs. According to their account, these thugs attacked the vehicle transporting them to recover concealed weapons. In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, three suspects, including her husband, were shot and killed instantly. Their bodies were allegedly placed in the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Morgue in Gwagwalada.
However, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), in a counter-affidavit sworn by Adedayo Adeboye, an official in the office, argued that none of Mary’s statements implicated their office. Vanguard reported this development.
