BY Doyin Ojosipe
The Coordinator, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Chido Onumah, on Wednesday filed a 150 million naira lawsuit against the Department of State Security Services (DSS) for what he described as outright abuse of his fundamental human right.
The DSS had arrested and detained Onumah on his return from a journey at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport on the 29th of September, 2019, on claims that the t- shirt on him posed a ‘threat’ to the peace of the country.
The t-shirt bearing the inscription, ‘We Are All Biafrans,’ was however printed to mark the launch of a book with the same title in December 2018.
In the lawsuit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1270/2019 filed at the Federal High Court Abuja, the Applicant prayed the court to order the DSS to award him the sum of 150 million naira for violation of his fundamental human rights and as compensation for damages done to him in form of trauma, setback, psychological and emotional distress he experienced after his sudden arrest and detention for over five hours while also denying him the right of communication.
Onumah prayed the court to declare as unlawful his arrest and detention, and therefore a violation of his fundamental human right and dignity, a violation of his freedom of movement and expression as provided in sections 34, 35 and 39 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria as amended.
He also prayed the court to declare as unlawful the seizure of his t-shirt and his coercion to write an undertaken never to wear it again, stating that the act contravenes the provision for right to own a property as contained in sections 39 and 44 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria as amended.
