Abduction: Lawyers slam N100m suit on IGP over Olamide Thomas rights violation

Olamide Thomas

Abduction: Lawyers slam N100m suit on IGP over Olamide Thomas rights violation

Lawyers representing Olamide Thomas, a human rights activist, filed a fundamental rights lawsuit against the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday, stating violations of her rights to dignity, personal liberty and freedom of movement after officers abducted her from Lagos.

The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja (case number FHC/ABJ/CS), lists the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Commissioner of Police, Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, as the first, second, and third respondents.

Her lawyers, including Inibehe Effiong, S. M. Oyeghe, Tope Temokun, Joseph Opute and others, wrote that Thomas’ arrest over a Facebook video, which has now exposed her to all manner of inhuman and degrading treatment, constitutes a gross violation of her fundamental human rights as stated in the constitution.

A part of the suit obtained by FIJ shows that the applicant is seeking:

Olamide Thomas

A DECLARATION that the arrest and detention of the Applicant by the men, officers, and agents of the Respondents since Friday, 13th December 2024, over a purported Facebook video and exposing her to all manner of inhuman and degrading treatment constitutes a gross violation of the Applicant’s fundamental right to dignity of the human person, guaranteed and protected by Section 34 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Articles 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

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A DECLARATION that the arrest and detention of the Applicant by men, officers, and agents of the Respondents on Friday, 13th December 2024, until the time of filing this action over a purported Facebook video is illegal, unlawful, and constitutes a gross violation of the Applicant’s fundamental right to liberty, guaranteed and protected by Section 35 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Articles 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

A DECLARATION that the forceful movement of the applicant from Shomolu, Lagos, where she resides, to Abuja on 14th December 2024 was illegal, unlawful, and a violation of her fundamental human rights to freedom of movement, guaranteed and protected by Section 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Article 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

AN ORDER directing and/or compelling the respondents to release the applicant forthwith or charge her to court.

AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the respondents or their agents and/or officers from further arresting and detaining the applicant illegally.

AN ORDER, directing the Respondents jointly and severally to pay the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) only as compensation for general and/or exemplary damages for the unwarranted infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental rights.

AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the respondents to tender a formal apology to the applicant by publishing the same in at least two national dailies.

BACKGROUND

It has been five days since Thomas has been in police custody for criticising Muyiwa Adejobi, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force, in a video on October 20.

Thomas, whose name is also styled as Horlarmidey Africano, was at the Lekki Tollgate in October for the third anniversary of the #EndSARS protest when the police arrested her and others after harassing them.

An angry Thomas, before her eventual release at Panti Police Station on October 20, made a video in which she criticised the police spokesperson and expressed her displeasure at how the police treated her. A close friend of hers who spoke to FIJ said that she cursed Adejobi in the video.

“She expressed how she felt about how the police arrested her and others at the Lekki Tollgate. Since then, we started hearing reports that the FPRO felt offended by her remarks that day. So, her arrest feels like a vendetta,” Thomas’ friend told FIJ.

The source also said that they and others close to Thomas learnt Adejobi had been making efforts to arrest her after the video. Recently, the source said, Thomas briefed them that someone close to her had been tracked.

“The person was picked up and asked about the whereabouts of Olamide. After he was detained and no convincing response was obtained from him, he was freed. Last week, her uncle was tracked. They located her through her uncle, who led the police team to her house in Shomolu that Thursday morning. Immediately after he was released, he shared the story with us,” the source said.

“While expressing how she felt that day, Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, was right there. He told her, ‘Oga will not be happy with these remarks you are making.’ Hundeyin later reached out to apprise her of Muyiwa’s disapproval of the video.”

At press time, Thomas remains detained at the police headquarters in Abuja.

FIJ called Adejobi on his phone line but it did not connect. He had not responded to a follow-up text sent to his line at press time.