Police Brutality: 75-Yr-Old Retired Civil Servant Demands N20m Compensation

A 75-year old age civil servant and resident of Rumuobiakani community in Obio/Apor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Chief Paul Nyeche Amadi, is demanding the payment of the sum of N20million compensation from the Nigerian police authority for the trauma he suffered from the brutalities he suffered from the operatives of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in 2019.
Amadi said the amount demanded would take care of the medical bills he incurred while treating himself of the illness and psychological trauma he suffered in the hands of the SARS personnel, saying that it would also serve as a deterrent to them and other security operatives who may want to indulge in the violation of human rights in future.
He made this demand when he appeared at the resumed sitting of the state Commission of Inquiry into the alleged Acts of Violence, Torture, Brutality, Murder and Violation of the Fundamental Human Rights of Citizens committed by officers, men and operatives of the Nigerian police in the state, yesterday in Port Harcourt.
He told members of the commission that in 2019, men of SARS stormed his residence in Rumuobiakani based on a petition by some members of his family, who according to him, were interested in taking over his inheritance from his late father, adding that he relocated to his maternal home where he spent one year hiding for fear of being arrested.
“My Lord, I went to hospital as a result of the trauma, abandoning my place of residence for a year. And because I was not used to that kind of life, I started to develop some sign of sickness, I was given drugs and injection”, he stated.
The proceeding did not go without some hitches from the police defense team, as they opposed hearing of the petition on the grounds that it falls short of the commission’s scope of jurisdiction.
The police Lead Counsel, I. N. Ubulom, told the commission members that the fulcrum of the petition borders on criminal investigation, nothing that the commission lacks the power to investigate any crime.
He further drew the attention of the commission to the fact that the petition was a subject of a suit before a high court, adding that it was out of the scope of the commission even as he asked the court to strike out the petition.
In his submission, counsel to the petitioner, Geoffrey O. A. Joseph while opposing the submission of the police counsel, said the petition bordered on human rights violation, and not a subject matter in court.
He, therefore, urged the panel to hear the petition as it was within the terms of the commission’s terms of reference.
Also, counsel to the commission, S. O. Inko-Tariah, aligned himself with the submission of the petitioner’s counsel, and urged the panel to entertain the petition as it was within their jurisdiction to hear it.
However, the tribunal Chairman, Justice Chukwunonye Uriri (rtd), over ruled the police, and ordered the petitioner to the duck.