Two complainants before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)’s independent investigative panel on the defunct SARS and other police units on Tuesday informed that despite the panel’s order against the police, an officer asked them to pay the balance of N50,000 for their bail.
The chairman of the panel, Justice Suleiman Galadima (retd.) had on February 25, 2021, ordered the refund of N50,000 the families of Sani Ango and Haruna Usman paid for their bail and return of their two smartphones to the complainants.
The duo had in their petition marked 2020/IIP-SARS/ABJ/134 alleged that they were unlawfully arrested and detained by Amadin Monday of the defunct SARS FCT; OC defunct SARS FCT; Commissioner of Police FCT and the Inspector General of Police.
At the resumed hearing of the petition today, Ango, who spoke on behalf of the petitioners, informed that the first respondent, Inspector Monday of the Intelligent Response Team (IRT), Garki, demanded N50,000 being the balance of N100,000 bail for their release from detention.
According to him, “Amadin called Usman to come and pay the balance of N50,000. Despite your order, my Lord the N50,000 we paid for our release and our smartphones are still with Amadin.”
He then told the panel that they wanted to be compensated by the Federal Government for their health as well as the return of the two smartphones seized from them by the first respondent.
The panel subsequently directed counsel for the police, Malik D Taiwo, to go with the petitioners to meet with the said Inspector Amadin on Monday and retrieve the N50,000 and their smartphones from him.
The chairman, Justice Galadima (retd) then adjourned a further hearing of the petition to November 23, 2021.
Ango had in the petition, which he wrote on behalf of both of them, alleged unlawful detention, torture and inhuman treatment meted to both of them at SARS office at Garki, Abuja.
He stated that they were arrested on September 10, 20202 and taken to the SARS office for interrogation over a missing laptop as prime suspects, stating that: “Two days after, we were taken to an operating room where we were tortured to the point of unconsciousness.
“Thereafter, the officer handling our case in the person of Amadin of the Rescue Intelligence Team took us to their cell for good seventeen (17) days despite several appeals by our family to bail us or to charge us to court.
“In the course of our stay, under the SARS cell custody, we were denied numerous freedom with no single provision of any meal/food from the complainant. Within a week, and my co-case partner began to develop some health challenges with severe general body weakness, coupled with sores and rashes right from our neck down to our feet.
“Consequently, our family got our freedom on the 30th of September, 2020, on condition to pay the sum of one hundred thousand naira (N100, 000.00) only, with a surety who will stand on our behalf.
“In the long run, the sum of fifty thousand naira (N50,000.00) was sourced with several appeals to agree on what was on the ground, thereafter the remaining balance will be paid within the timeframe of two weeks by myself and that of Haruna Usman.
“Our smartphones were withheld by the officer until the remaining balance is settled. As for our health issue, we are still on medication as we still experience some health lacuna,” Ango had stated in the petition.
The petitioners, therefore, urged the panel to “humbly intervene and retrieve our smartphones, fifty thousand Naira (N50,000) paid by our family before we got our freedom, as bail is free according to the law stipulated in the Nigerian Constitution.”
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