The judge also
ordered that the police pay five per cent interest until the damages were fully
liquidated.
The Abuja
Division of the Federal High Court has awarded N70 million against the Nigerian
police for firing a stray bullet that killed a nursing mother in a landmark
judgement that caps over 20 years of litigation.
Justice G. Olotu, on Friday, ordered the
police to pay N10 million as general damages, N50 million as punitive damages
and N10 million litigation to a 24-year-old man whose mother was fatally shot
in 2000.
In that year, Margaret Achalla was bathing her
baby in the Utako area of Abuja when she was struck by a stray bullet fired by
a uniformed police officer. She slumped and began to bleed.
Rather than take the victim to a hospital, the
officers fled, leaving her to bleed to death.
Rights lawyer and activist Abubakar Marshal of
Falana and Falana Chambers took on the case in 2001 and sued the police to pay
for damages.
The suit was backed with hard evidence,
including the extracted bullet, pictures of the leg that was shot, x-ray
report, medical reports and hospital invoices, all of which were contained in
the proof of claim.
Due to the overwhelming evidence presented
before the Court, Mr Olotu ruled that Ms Achalla’s death was unlawful and
unconstitutional.
Consequently, he awarded a total of N70
million against the police; N10 million as general damages, N50 million as
punitive damages and N10 million as cost of litigation.
Furthermore, he ordered that the police pay
five per cent interest until the damages were fully liquidated.
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