Court Orders Police To Pay Bus Driver N10m Damages

Rivers State Commissioner of Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari addressing the audience at the passing-out ceremony of information officers trained on ICT by the state Ministry of Information, yesterday. Photo: Chris Monyanaga

An Ikeja High Court, yesterday, awarded the sum of N10 million as damages in the favour of Mr Sunday Awoyera, a victim of police shooting.
Justice Olubunmi Oyewole ordered the erring police officer, Constable Alibor Narman, to pay the money to the victim as  cost of the injury suffered from the shooting.
Awoyera, a commercial bus driver, sued the constable for shooting him at a check point in Igando Area of Lagos State while in company of his wife and children on Aug. 2, 2008.
He had told the court that the police officer pulled the trigger at his neck in spite all entreaties by his wife and children.
Consequently, he sought an order of the court for Narman to pay him N10 million as damages “for the infringement of his right to life and dignity of human person”.
Delivering judgment, Oyewole said “the applicant had established the relief being sought.
The judge said that the dignity of the applicant had been infringed upon and that he would live with the action of the respondent.
“I hereby award the full sum of N10 million jointly and severally against the respondent,” he said.
Oyewole agreed that with the medical report tendered by the victim that “there was severe tissue loss and deep laceration of the mandible of the bones”. 
On the action of the police officer, the judge said: “I declare that his act is unconstitutional as it violates the applicant’s right to life.”
Chief S.W. Baidi, counsel to the constable, had urged the court to dismiss the application since his client’s name was not mentioned in the relief sought.
However, Mr Simeon Oyeniyi, Counsel to the victim had insisted that the erring police officer was liable to the offence.
He had brought the motion on notice pursuant to the fundamental human rights (enforcement procedure) rules of the 1999 Constitution.