A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, the Delta State capital, has awarded the sum of N10 million against the Department of State Services, DSS, for infringing on the fundamental rights of Anthony Okolie, who was kept in detention for 10 weeks without trial.
Presiding Judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, held that the first respondent, [the SSS] in the case of unlawful use of a mobile SIM Card earlier belonging to Hanan Buhari, daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari; erred by acting outside the ambit of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Justice Dimgba while striking out the contention of Hanan Buhari who was challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court sitting in Asaba to hear of the case, held that the origination of the incident charged to the Court, the purchase or registration of the mobile SIM Card and the arrest of the appellant happened in Asaba, hence, the substantiality of the Federal High Court in Asaba to hear and deliver judgement in the matter.
Telecoms company, MTN, had recycled the mobile telephone number for sale after it became dormant for a long time.
Okolie still has receipt he was given for the purchase of the SIM in question.
To seek justice, Okolie, through his lawyer, Tope Akinyode, dragged Hanan, MTN, and DSS before the Federal High Court in Asaba.
After the court delivered its judgment on Thursday, Akinyode in a Twitter post said, “I’ve been able to persuade the Federal High Court to award N10m against SSS for the 10 weeks detention of Anthony Okolie over an MTN SIM card once used by the daughter of President Buhari, Hanan.”
BREAKING: I’ve been able to persuade the Federal High Court to award N10 Million Naira Sum Agaisnt SSS For the 10 Weeks Detention of Anthony Okolie over an MTN SIM Card Once Used by the daughter of President Buhari, Hanan.
— Tope Akinyode (@TopeAkinyode) May 14, 2020