The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday awarded N200 million damages to the widow of Kabiru Babai, a truck driver who was shot dead by a police sergeant in Osogbo in 2021.
Justice Peter Lifu, who gave the judgment, held that the fatal shooting violated Babai’s fundamental right to life under Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The court also ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Osun State Commissioner of Police to “immediately commence the prosecution” of Sergeant Moses Samuel over the killing.
Court documents state that Babai was repairing a broken-down truck at Ota-Efun, Osogbo, on December 3, 2021, when police officers confronted the vehicle’s occupants.
Babai’s widow, Balkisu, who filed the suit, said one officer shot the co-driver in the hand during the altercation. She told the court that Babai came out from beneath the truck to question the shooting and was allegedly beaten with a shovel, struck with a rifle butt and shot in the chest by Sergeant Samuel and died at the scene.
Balkisu in the suit sought a declaration that the killing was unlawful, an order for prosecution, and N2 billion in compensation.
Delivering judgment, Justice Lifu said the applicant proved that the officer’s conduct unlawfully violated the deceased’s constitutional right to life.
He declared the killing unconstitutional and awarded N200 million as compensatory and exemplary damages against the IGP, the Osun CP and Sergeant Samuel.
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