The Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has awarded ₦5 million in compensatory damages against the police and the Director of the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, Professor Muhammad Lawal Atanda, alongside other respondents, over the unlawful arrest and detention of a legal practitioner.
Justice Abimbola O. Awogboro delivered the judgment on September 30, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/IL/CS/134/2025, filed by Omotosho Kazeem Kareem, Esq., against the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State, and five others.
The court declared Kareem’s arrest and detention illegal and unconstitutional, holding that the action amounted to a violation of his fundamental rights to personal liberty and dignity of the human person guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution.
The court held that the first to third respondents — the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State; the Police Service Commission; and Inspector Segun Fawoyi — acted unlawfully at the instigation of the fourth to sixth respondents, identified as DSP Olufunke Adu, Professor Muhammad Lawal Atanda and Mr. Lawal Musiliu.
According to the judgment, the actions of the respondents resulted in the harassment, intimidation and detention of the lawyer without lawful justification.
Justice Awogboro also condemned the use of the police as an instrument of personal vendetta and oppression and consequently awarded ₦5 million against the respondents jointly and severally as compensation for the violation of Kareem’s fundamental rights.
Members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ilorin Branch, reacting to the judgment, described the decision as an important victory for the rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights.
They said the judgment should serve as a warning against the abuse of state institutions to intimidate citizens, including lawyers carrying out their professional responsibilities.
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