Dss Gets N5m Fine Over ‘illegal’ Arrest, Detention Of Ekiti Lawmaker

BEVERLY HILLS, April 20, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday imposed a N5 million fine on the Department of State Services, DSS, for illegally arresting and detaining Hon. Afolabi Akanni, who represents Efon Constituency 1 in the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

It would be recalled that Akanni was on March 4 whisked away by DSS operatives who invaded the House of Assembly complex over a purported breach of security regulations. He was eventually released on March 22.

The lawmaker's counsel, Obafemi Adewale told the judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo that his client could not be physically present because he was still receiving “post-traumatic” treatment in a hospital outside the state.

Delivering his judgment, the judge noted that the DSS had all along failed to either deny or defend the position, facts and allegations of the applicant, adding that in the eyes of the law, “there is no basis for the court to believe that all that the applicant had alleged against the DSS were not true.”

Taiwo ruled that the fundamental rights of Akanni as specified by the principles of the Rule of Law and the African Charter on the Rights of individuals, had been violated by the DSS in illegally arresting and continually detaining him for 18 days.

The court also granted three out of the four reliefs sought by the applicant's counsel, which are, “whether the applicant's unlawful arrest and detention is justified , whether the said intimidation, torture and continued detention is not a violation of his fundamental human rights and a violation of the Rule of Law, and whether the applicant's is not entitled to damages”.