Court orders DSS, minister to pay N20m to Saraki’s aide over illegal detention

The Federal High Court sitting in  Abuja judicial division  has ordered the Department of State Service ( DSS),  the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung; to pay the sum of N20 million to the Special Assistant to the Senate President on Youth Matters, Mr Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, as a penalty for illegal arrest and unlawful detention.

The  presiding judge, Justice J. T. Tsoho, who delivered the judgment, also ordered the DSS and the minister to tender unreserved apologies to the aide in two national dailies for what he described as unconstitutional detention.

The ruling was in pursuant of Section 34, 35(1) 36 , 40 of the 1999 Constitution and sequel to a case the aide instituted with the details FHC (ABJ) (CS) 342/2016

The Senate President’s aide, in the suit,  pleaded that his arrest and detention by DSS for about a month was a violation of his fundamental human right.

The judge, in the ruling, declared that his arrest and detention was unlawful, unconstitutional, oppressive, malicious and a gross violation of his  freedom of movements, ordering the minister,  Solomon Dalung and the DSS to tender public apology to Ikenga in two national dailies.

The judge also restrained the DSS from further arresting Ikenga or preventing him in the discharge of his duties as the aide of the Senate President and the President of National Youth Council of Nigeria or any other manner infringing on his fundamental right.

Meanwhile, the aide  has alleged a fresh plot by the DSS to re-arrest  him and charge him with what he called a trump charge.