Oyo tailor assaulted by DPO gets justice

Months after he was assaulted by the Divisional Police Officer (now former DPO) in charge of Iyaganku division, Ibadan, Alex Gwazah, Lukman Adeniyi, an Ibadan based fashion designer; has finally gotten justice.

Justice Rachael Boyede Akintola, sitting over Court 4, of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan, has awarded a sum of N150,000 as damages and costs against a former Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Iyaganku, Ibadan, CSP Alex Gwazah, for infringing on rights of Lukman Adeniyi.

Delivering the judgement on Tuesday, Justice Akintola ruled that the act of the first respondent was unlawful in respect of the things he did to the applicant.

It will be recalled that Lukman Adeniyi had taken the matter to the High Court in December 2020 to enforce his fundamental human rights, after he was discharged by the magistrates’ court he was initially charged to.

The High Court awarded N50,000 as damages against the first respondent, while N100,000 was awarded in favour of the applicant.

In an affidavit sworn to by the applicant, the former DPO was named as the first respondent and the state commissioner of police was the second respondent.

He added that the second respondent had refused to take any step on the matter, despite his writing a letter of complaint through his lawyer.

But there was no award of damages against the second respondent.

The judge ruled that the second respondent could not be vicariously liable to act on the first respondent, saying that all the first respondent did were of his own volition.

According to the information scooped from the Nigerian Tribune,  after the furore raised over the initial arraignment of the fashion designer, Gwazah was redeployed from Iyaganku division to Quick Intervention Unit as the head.

In the affidavit, Adeniyi narrated how he was contacted by the DPO to sew clothes for him, but ended up being physically assaulted, detained in the cell and arraigned in court over accusation that he damaged his clothes.

He added that the charge was eventually struck off by a magistrate, Mrs Olajumoke Akande, sitting over Court 8, at Iyaganku Magistrates’ Court, for want of diligent prosecution.

This, the applicant said, was because the first respondent failed to attend court proceedings the two times the matter came up for hearing.

Adeniyi also pointed out in the affidavit that Gwazah failed to pay him his professional fee of N60,000, which he legitimately earned through mutual agreement, despite several demands.

He stated that since the matter was struck off the magistrates’ court’s list, he had been receiving threats from the first respondent on his rearrest and being dealt with, unless he dropped his demand for payment of the professional fee.

This, Adeniyi said, had made him to abandon his workplace at Oke Bola area of Ibadan.