Police to pay tricyclists N2m for illegal detention

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday awarded N2m as damages against the police for illegal arrest and detention of three tricycle riders. Punch reports. The sum was awarded in favour of Samson Adeotan, Oluwole Owolabi and Oluwasegun Ogundare. The three men had filed a suit seeking an order of the court to declare as a breach of their fundamental rights their arrest by officers of the Nigerian Police and their invitation by the Commissioner of Police Special Fraud Unit, over a matter “that was purely civil.” Joined as respondent/defendant in the suit are the Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State and Petra Microfinance Bank Ltd. The applicants on behalf of a group, the Keke Owners Association of Nigeria, had entered into a loan agreement with Petra Microfinance Bank Ltd. on April 16, 2006. It was agreed that the bank would supply members of the group 50 tricycles with an instalmental payment plan. According to the applicants, the bank failed to back the agreement up with a comprehensive insurance policy. The said along the line, some of the tricycles were involved in road accidents and others were impounded by the police and Lagos Traffic Management Authority, it became impossible for the applicants to meet up with the repayment plan. According to the applicants, the bank reported the matter to the police Criminal Investigation Department at Panti, Lagos, claiming they had collected the instalmental payments but failed to remit same. They were arrested, detained for three days, tortured and forced to make payment on the tricycles from their personal pockets. They had filed an application, seeking the order of the court to restrain the respondents or their officers from further harassing or threatening to arrest them over their loan agreement with Petra Microfinance Bank Ltd. They also asked the court to order the police to pay them N20m damages over violation of their fundamental rights. The court held that since the transaction between the applicants and Petra Microfinance Bank Ltd. was civil in nature, the appropriate step was for the bank to have sued the applicants to court for recovery of the debt. In his ruling, Justice Okon Abang said, “The police will never learn; even if it is true that the applicants collected money meant for the repayment of the loan facility, it is not a guarantee for the police to step in as debt collector and abandon their role of maintaining law and order. “A sum of N2m is hereby awarded as damages against the respondents jointly and severally for illegal arrest and detention of applicants. “A cost of N50,000 is also awarded in favour of the applicants, I so hold,” he said.