A Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia has ordered
the Nigerian Army to pay two brothers, Destiny and Mustard Enweremadu N10
million for unlawful detention.
The two brothers are the children of the traditional
ruler of Ngwa Ukwu, Eze Bernard
Enweremadu.
The court presided over by Justice M. G. Umar
however, ordered that the two Enweremadus be handed over to the police for
proper investigation of the allegations against them.
They were arrested sometime last year by soldiers
from the 14 Brigade Ohafia on April 7, 2012 over alleged case of armed robbery
and kidnapping.
Click to read more after the cut...
They were arrested from their fathers’ palace by
soldiers following reports alleging that armed robbers and kidnappers were
living in the palace.
Delivering judgment in a suit filed by the
Enweremadus, Justice Umar said that it was wrong for the military to assume the
role of the police when they are meant to take care of the territorial borders
of the country.
According to him, the army have no right to detain
anyone involved in a criminal case, saying “even when they make such arrests
they are bound by law to hand them over to the police who have the right to
detain them and investigate the matter properly.”
He berated the Army for their penchant for arresting
and detaining people, saying that it was not their duty to detain but to hand
over to police any suspect they arrested.
His words: “The law allows for detaining of suspects
at least one day and at most two days, yet these boys have been in military
cell without anyone knowing the state of their health.”
The applicants approached the court for the
enforcement of their fundamental rights and asked for N100 million as damages,
but were granted N10 million.
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