The High Court No. 1 sitting at Sapele, Delta State presided over by Hon. Justice A. O. Omamogho in a well considered judgment delivered on Wednesday, the 23rd day of May, 2018 in Suit No: S/6/2017 CHIEF LUCKY EFE OSEAHWEKE VS. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE and OTHERS awarded the sum of N20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million Naira) as damages to the Oseahweke Family of Aghalokpe Town in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State represented by the Claimant.
You would recall that the late Mr. Samson Efe, a mechanic aged 41 years and married with 4 children was on the 12th day November, 2016 arrested by Men of the Anti Kidnap Section from the State CID, Asaba at his mechanic workshop in Sapele and in the process whisked him to Asaba where he was detained at the cell of the State CID, Asaba.
The deceased had earlier complained to the Claimant, his father on how his investigators had subjected him to severe torture since he was arrested on the 12th day of November, 2018. The Police had demanded for the sum of N150,000.00 (One hundred and fifty thousand naira) for his bail.
On the 18th day of November, 2018 the deceased slumped and died in the cell at the State CID, Asaba before the Claimant could raise the above sum, and without the consent of the family of the deceased, Police doctors conducted a postmortem examination on the corpse of the said deceased whose report claimed that the deceased died of heart attack. The deceased was thereafter buried by the Police.
An order of the High Court No. 1, Sapele directing that the said corpse of the deceased be exhumed for a joint postmortem examination to be conducted by Police pathologist and that of the family of the deceased was ignored by the Police authority in the State.
The Police (Defendants) refused to defend the said suit and on Wednesday the 23rd day of May, 2018 Judgment was entered in favour of the Claimant after the adoption of final written address from Mrs. O. J. Egbo of Ikimi Oghenejabor & Co., Legal Practitioners for the Claimant.
