Court Case Instituted Against Ekiti Commissioner And 11 Others

Funminiyi Afuye, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, along with 11 others, has been charged with the Nigerian Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act. The charge stems from a recent political demonstration back on the 8th of June, where one man was killed, and scores arrested in what started out as a peaceful assembly by members of the All Progressives Congress in Ado Ekiti.

The federal terrorism charge, considered very serious by Nigerian legal experts, is dubious, say critics of federal officials in Abuja, because of its timing.

Funminiyi Afuye, had instituted a civil rights suit, and sued the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Uyanma, and the Mobile Police Commander, Gabriel Selenkere, just days before.

 In his suit filed at the Ekiti State High Court, Ado-Ekiti, Afuye demanded N1 billion as “exemplary damages” for his unlawful detention and physical assault by Selenkere.

That suit was filed last week before a federal high Court , FCYT Division, on Wednesday June 11th by one DSP Oloye Torugbene of the Legal/Prosecution Unit at the Police Force Criminal Investigations Department in Abuja, is also defective on the grounds of jurisdiction. 

The three count charge stems from complaints by the police. However, several Ado-Ekiti residents who witness the brutality of the police, stated that the local police there had attacked supporters of the All People’s Congress (APC), who had legally assembled, and had used brooms as a symbolic gesture in ‘cleaning up the local government’ a day after President Goodluck Jonathan endorsed the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Ayo Fayose at a well attended rally.

Source: Saharareporters