Activist and entertainer, Charles Oputa, more popularly known as Charly Boy, has sued the Nigeria Police for N500m as compensation for alleged violati
Activist and entertainer, Charles Oputa, more popularly known as Charly Boy, has sued the Nigeria Police for N500m as compensation for alleged violation of his rights by the police during the #ResumeorResign protest which convened last month. He alleged in his fundamental rights enforcement suit which he filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, Abuja, that the officers attacked him during the protest on August 8, in violation of his rights to dignity of the human person, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. Charly Boy had convened the protest to demand President Muhammadu Buhari, who was then on medical vacation in London, the United Kingdom, to either resume or resign from office.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, in an originating motion dated October 4, 2017, has the Commissioner of Police, FCT Police Command, as the respondent. In the written address filed in support of the suit, marked HC/ABJ/CV/3037/2017, Effiong argued that the alleged use of teargas canisters, water cannon and wild police dogs by the agents and officers of the respondent to attack, harass and disperse the applicant during a peaceful demonstration at the Unity Fountain in Maitama, Abuja on Tuesday, August 8, 2017, is not unjustifiable, illegal, unconstitutional.
Effiong added that the act of the police constituted “a breach of the applicant’s fundamental rights to the dignity of the human person, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Punch
