OSSIEC sues Egbetokun, CP for arresting staff during Osun LG poll, demands N2bn damages

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The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission and its chairman, Hashim Abioye have dragged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Abba for the breach of fundamental rights and unjustifiable arrests of the commission’s ad-hoc staff during the just concluded local government election in the state.

The plaintiffs demanded the sum of N2billion as damages against the police bosses for allegedly harassing, intimidating and detaining some ad-hoc staff of the commission for “committing no offence.”

In a suit filed at the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, brought in a representative capacity for themselves and on behalf all the members and the entire staff, including ad-hoc staff of the commission, the claimants accused Egbetokun and Abba of breach and continuing breach of their fundamental rights, illegal arrest and detention, unlawful sealing of the commission premises, threat of further arrest and detention, illegal seizure of commission’s properties which included ballot boxes, papers among other sensitive materials.

The claimants sought court’s declaration that going by the provisions of Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the defendants were not justified by their act of invading/sealing off the plaintiffs’ office premises and threat to arrest the plaintiffs and their staff in flagrant disregard for the right to private life, right to liberty particularly in relation to the peaceful, free and fair election conducted by the plaintiffs on 22nd February 2025.

The commission and its chairman, through their counsel, Maruf Adeniran, urged the court for “AN ORDER directing the defendants to immediately vacate and unseal the plaintiffs’ office premises and immediate release of the plaintiffs’ staff arrested by the defendants in relation to the peaceful, free and fair election conducted by the plaintiffs on 22nd February 2025

“AN ORDER restraining all the defendants from arresting, detaining and/or taking any step or further step or doing anything capable of hampering the fundamental rights of the plaintiffs to liberty, private life and property as enshrined under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights particularly in relation to the free and fair election conducted by the plaintiffs on 22nd February 2025.

“AN ORDER directing all the defendants jointly and severally to pay to the plaintiffs a sum of N2 Billion as damages, for instigating the breach and actual breach of the fundamental rights of the plaintiffs and her staff to liberty, dignity and private life.”

OSSIEC chairman had raised the alarm last weekend that the commission’s headquarters had been sealed off by the police since Friday, February 21.

The office was sealed off a day before the Saturday, February 22, 2025, local government election in the state, a situation the OSSIEC chairman attributed to the delay in election materials getting to some polling units.