Court Awards N300m Against DSS Over Illegal Detention Of Activist

A Bayelsa State High Court sitting in Yenagoa on Monday ordered the Department of State Security to pay N300 million in damages over the illegal arrest and detention of a youth activist, Collins Opumie, for over two years.

Opumie approached the court in 2022 to seek redress, demanding N9.0 billion in Suit number YHC/324/2022 as damages over his detention following a petition by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company.

In his ruling, the presiding judge, Ebiyon Charlie, declared that the claimant was forcefully imprisoned and should be awarded N300 million as compensation.

Reacting to the judgment, the claimant, Opumie, said he was satisfied with the judgment as his right was trampled upon, and he was denied medical attention during the period of his incarceration.

“I am happy even when all our expectations were not met. I thank all those who stood by me, the traditional rulers and my lawyer, for standing for the truth”.

In his statement of claims, he had accused the DSS in Yenagoa of allegedly abducting him at the instance of NAOC in Gestapo style, physically and mentally torturing him, tying up and throwing him into the boot of a vehicle, and taking him to Abuja like a common criminal without the knowledge of his family and access to medical care.

He had also prayed the court to declare that his arrest, torture, and subsequent detention without proper food and medical attention and access to family members for two years for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution were illegal.

He had sought an “injunction restraining the 2nd and 3rd set of defendants from further harassing or attempts to arrest and detain the claimant at the instance of the 1st set of defendants.”