Court faults police over detention of retired officer

The Federal High Court in Abuja has faulted the Nigerian Police Force over the arrest and detention of a retired Chief Superintendent of Police and legal practitioner, Joseph Offor, for alleged professional misconduct.

Offor, who was attached to the legal/prosecution department of the force headquarters, was accused of insubordination and unauthorised disclosure of official secrets to a suspect, and was subsequently arrested and detained for seven days.

Displeased with the action, Offor filed a fundamental human rights lawsuit against the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, the Nigeria Police Force, and officers DCP Ohiozoba Ehiede, ACP Effiong Asuquo, ACP Alex Ebbah, and DCP Elemah Abdullahi, listed as the first to sixth respondents, respectively.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/501/2024, Offor stated that on September 26, 2023, he was forcibly dragged in public glare from the office of the Inspector General of Police, located on the seventh floor of the police headquarters to the office of Abdullahi, before being detained at the police cell in Asokoro, Abuja, same day.

Offor stated that he was detained without access to food, water, medication, or his phone until October 3, 2023.

He further alleged that during his detention, he was stripped down to his underwear and forced to sleep on bare floor of a poorly ventilated, overcrowded, and unsanitary cell infested with mosquitoes and bedbugs, which emitted a foul odour.

Offor argued that his arrest, detention, and alleged torture were unconstitutional, arbitrary, and a gross violation of his fundamental rights, particularly his rights to dignity and personal liberty.

He prayed the court to declare his arrest and detention unlawful and to issue an order restraining the respondents and their agents from further acts of harassment or detention related to the case.

Offor sought an award of N500m as exemplary damages for the alleged violation of his rights and requested that the respondents tender a written apology to be published in a conspicuous section of a national newspaper.

In their counter-affidavit, the respondents denied the allegations, arguing that Offor’s actions constituted misconduct.

They claimed he had compromised his duties by issuing a police wireless message to a suspect, which was used to gain an advantage against the police in a case at the Rivers State High Court.

The respondents also alleged Offor misled the former IGP by drafting a legal advice document that was later invalidated.

Despite being aware of its invalidation, Offor allegedly issued a certified true copy of the document to the suspect’s counsel.

They argued that his conduct violated official secrecy laws governing police officers and justified his arrest and detention.

Delivering judgment in the suit, the trial judge, Justice H.J. Yilwa, ruled that Offor’s arrest and detention were wrongful, illegal, and a gross violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty as guaranteed under Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution.

In a certified true copy of dated January 30, 2025 and obtained by Saturday PUNCH, Yilwa held that the evidence before the court showed there was no criminal allegation against the applicant that warranted his arrest and detention.

The judge further held that while the respondents argued that a citizen arrested by the police in the legitimate exercise of their lawful duties couldn’t sue the police, the court took cognisance of the fact that the applicant was arrested and detained on September 26, 2023, before he was even served with a query on the alleged misconduct dated November 24, 2023.

The judge added saying, “I have equally noted that there is no evidence placed before me, on the allegation and investigation of crime against the applicant except on the issue of the alleged professional misconduct of the applicant being a police officer as averred in the respondents’ counter affidavit.

“In as much as this court will not and cannot interfere with the statutory duties of the respondents, I am of the considered view that detaining the applicant for the reasons canvassed by the respondent in their counter affidavit on professional misconduct does not fall within their statutory duties as provided in Section 4 of the Police Act 2022 and I therefore so hold.”

The judge held that “The allegation against the applicant is purely on professional misconduct to which a query was issued for his response and that was after he was arrested and detained.”

The court faulted the police for arresting and detaining the applicant before an official query was even issued on him.

Upon declaring the applicant’s arrest and detention as unconstitutional, illegal and wrongful, the court awarded the sum of N100,000 as damages against the respondents for the violation of the applicant’s fundamental human rights.