A Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City has stopped the wife of Edo State Deputy governor, Endurance Odubu, from paying the sum of N12 million as damages to one Captain Olorunduyilemi Stephen, who was beaten up by security operatives attached to her.
A Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Hobon in July last year had ordered Mrs Odubu, her security details and the Edo State government to pay Captain Stephen the sum of N10 million for general damages for infringement on fundamental human rights and illegal detention and N2 million as special damages for medical bills and car damage.
However, Justice George Shoremi, in a judgement delivered in an appeal filed against the judgement of the lower court, said there was no basis for the lower court to award damages against Mrs. Odubu for the action of her security details and that Mrs Odubu could not be held liable for the beating of Captain Stephen.
Justice Hobon, therefore, ordered that Mrs. Odubu should apologise to the army officer in three electronic media and two national dailies, while the court held that wife of a deputy governor was a private person and not entitled to heavy security guard and the use of siren.
Justice Shoremi held that there was no liability on the part of the deputy governor’s wife and that she was not a public officer and that the police and the State Security Service (SSS) should be held liable.
Counsel for Mrs Odubu, Wole Iyamu, said the judgement of the Court of Appeal showed that the attempt to drag Mrs Odubu into the matter by the army officer was political and an attempt to embarrass and create disaffection.
Captain Stephen was allegedly beaten up on Sapele Road in Benin City on January 11, 2010, when his car almost ran into the convoy of the deputy governor’s wife. The security details of Mrs Odubu were said to have forcibly dragged him out and beat him up before taking him away.
Tribune
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