The Federal High Court in Abuja has awarded N200 million in damages to the widow of truck driver Kabiru Babai, who was unlawfully killed by a police sergeant in Osun State in 2021.
Justice Peter Lifu ruled that Babai’s killing violated his fundamental right to life under Section 33(1) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The court also ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Osun State Commissioner of Police to immediately begin prosecution of Sergeant Moses Samuel, the officer accused of carrying out the fatal shooting.
According to court documents, Babai was repairing a broken-down truck at Ota-Efun in Osogbo on December 3, 2021, when police officers approached the vehicle and confronted those present.
During the incident, one officer allegedly shot the co-driver in the hand. Babai reportedly came out from beneath the truck to question the shooting, after which he was allegedly beaten with a shovel, struck with the butt of a rifle and shot in the chest by Sergeant Samuel. He died at the scene.
Babai’s widow, Balkisu, filed the suit against the Police Service Commission, the Inspector-General of Police, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Sergeant Samuel and the Attorney-General of the Federation. She had sought a declaration that her husband’s killing was unlawful, an order for the officer’s prosecution and N2 billion in compensation.
In his judgment, Justice Lifu held that the applicant successfully proved that Babai’s constitutional right to life had been unlawfully violated.
The court awarded N200 million as compensatory and exemplary damages against the IGP, the Osun State Commissioner of Police and Sergeant Samuel for the unlawful killing and the trauma caused to the deceased’s family.
However, the court declined the request to compel the Attorney-General of the Federation to initiate criminal proceedings against the police sergeant.
The case followed claims that although police authorities had earlier indicted Sergeant Samuel, he had not been prosecuted before the suit was filed in August 2022.
