A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, to immediately commence the prosecution of a police sergeant, Moses Samuel, over the 2021 killing of a truck driver, Mallam Kabiru Babai.
The court, in a judgment delivered on Thursday by Justice Peter Lifu, also awarded N200m in damages to Babai’s widow, Balkisu.
The court held that the fatal shooting of Babai violated the deceased’s fundamental right to life guaranteed under Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Babai’s widow had filed the fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Police Service Commission, the IGP, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Samuel and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
She sought, among other reliefs, a declaration that the killing of her husband on December 3, 2021, was unlawful, an order compelling the prosecution of the officer and N2bn in compensation.
