Yoruba actor and comedian, Mr. Babatunde Omidina, aka Baba Suwe, has dragged the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to the Supreme Court over N25m compensation awarded to him by a Lagos High Court.
Justice Yetunde Idowu of the Lagos High
Court, Ikeja on November 24, 2011 ordered the NDLEA to pay the sum to
Omidina for allegedly detaining him illegally over suspicion of hard
drug ingestion.
Following an appeal by the anti-drug
agency, the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal on May 31, set aside
the judgment, declaring that the award was “excessive and oppressive”.
However, dissatisfied with the appeal
court ruling, Omidina, through his counsel, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, on
Friday filed a notice of appeal at the apex court.
Aturu, in one of his seven grounds of
appeal, noted that the Court of Appeal was wrong to have declared that
the Lagos High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
“Section 46 of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended clearly vests jurisdiction
to entertain fundamental rights cases on High Court of Lagos State for
violation of rights that occurred within Lagos State,” Aturu said.
He also argued that it was erroneous for the appellate court to have declared that the award of N25m was “excessive”.
He noted that the Court of Appeal
“arrived at its decision based on extraneous issues”, adding that the
appellate court “failed to state and award what sum it considers
reasonable and not excessive”.
According to Aturu, the decision of the
appellate court is in conflict with previous decisions of the Supreme
Court, which notes, “once a person’s right has been shown to have been
violated, compensation is automatic”.
Aturu argued, “The Court of Appeal did
not consider at all the features of the appellant’s arrest and detention
that warranted the award of N25m submitted to it.”
The anti-drug agency on October 12, 2011
arrested Omidina at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos
on his way to Paris on the suspicion of ingestion of hard drug.
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