The five DTN workers were allegedly arrested on Friday, January 15, 2018.
Senator Ikechukwu Obiora, the inspector general of Police, Idris Ibrahim and deputy inspector general of Police, H. M Dagala, have been dragged to court by the management of the Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) over the unlawful detention of five of its staff.
The detained DTN workers: Tinuola Ashiru, (Assistant Manager, Human Resources); Ayodele Ibitoye (Accountant); Afolabi Adeboye (Graphics Designer); Marvelous Eyoh Effiong (Graphics Designer) and James Akingbade Olagoke (Advert Officer).
In a suit marked No.FHC/ABJ/CS/70/18 filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, January 25, 2018, and assigned to Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, is demanding for N200 million as general damages for their unlawful incarceration.
The five DTN workers were allegedly arrested on Friday, January 15, 2018, by six riot policemen and detained at the SARS office in Ikeja, Lagos without any court order.
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The management alleged that workers spent the night at the SARS office in Ikeja and were later brought to Abuja ‘in a rickety vehicle” on Saturday, January 16, 2018. They have since been detained at Area 10 Police Division in Abuja.
The fundamental enforcement suit which was filed on their behalf by their lawyers, Rosemary Onu and Uche Amulu and was brought pursuant to Order 11, Rule 1, 2 and 3 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rule, 2009.
The DTN workers are asking the court to take a judicial notice of the fact that their fundamental rights to freedom, liberty and dignity to life have been grossly violated by the Police, acting at the prompting of Senator Obiora, to detain them for seven days without any court order.
The DTN workers (the plaintiffs) are therefore seeking for an order of the court to declare that the invasion of DTN in Agidingbi, Lagos, man-handling, arrest, bungling and their detention by officers of the IGP upon the overt procurement and sponsorship of Senator Obiora without any warrant or order of court constitutes a reckless infringement of their fundamental rights as guaranteed and protected by sections 35(1), (4) and (5), 34(1)(a) and 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).