The Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, has ordered the Nigeria Police to pay N50million compensation to the family of Daniel Chibuike-Ikeagwuchi, popular called Sleek, who was killed by policemen in the state.
The victim’s family had named the police; Inspector-General Ibrahim Adamu; the state Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan; and two others in a suit it filed to enforce the fundamental human rights of the deceased.
Recall that a team of policemen, shot and killed Sleek around Elelenwo area of Port Harcourt, River State, on September 19, 2020, resulting in a street protest.
The family had prayed the court to declare the killing of their son unlawful and to award N1bn as compensation. It was learnt that the defendants neither appeared nor filed responses in two sittings.
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They were said to have appeared in court on the last-adjourned date of November 23, when they presented a counter affidavit that was rejected by the court. In his ruling yesterday, the trial judge, Justice, S.C. Amadi, granted the four prayers of the claimant and declared that the gruesome murder of Sleek contravened the constitution of Nigeria.
Amadi held that the failure of the police to arraign the officers who killed Sleek was illegal and awarded N50million against the defendants. The lawyer to Sleek’s family, Noble Njoku, described the judgment as justice well-served.
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