Lawyer urges Ondo to comply with N30m judgement for amputee motorcyclist

A human rights activist and an Akure-based lawyer, Tope Temokun, has urged the Ondo state government to comply with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Akure division, Ondo, which ruled in favor of an amputated motorcyclist, Oluwasegun Oluwarotimi.

The lawyer emphasised that the motorcyclist was shot by an operative of the State Security Network, otherwise known as the Amotekun corps, and had his prayers granted that the state government should pay N30 million in compensation.

According to Temokun, Amotekun operatives shot Oluwarotimi in Araromi axis of Akure, the state capital, in August 2021, leading to the amputation of his left leg about a month later.

According to the lawyer in a letter addressed to the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the amputation of one of the legs of the victim had in turn affected his livelihood.

Temokun, in the letter, said, “Before now, the government had the opportunity of one option, namely: to comply with the judgment of the court by paying Mr. Oluwasegun Oluwarotimi the sum awarded by the court, to get an artificial leg, and pick the pieces of his life by starting a business that befits his physical stand, not to damage the image of the State further, after the damage done to the image of the state by the acts of its agency to turn its citizen into an amputee and still failed to heed the call for restitution, till litigation was resorted to, but that opportunity was lost; alternatively, the government could also appeal the judgment on any good ground.

“Although the latter option is a constitutional right and legally exercisable by any judgment debtor, we believe the government of Ondo State is not just any judgment debtor but a government whose primary responsibility is the welfare of its citizens and, in this case, a citizen who is now an amputee.

“No doubt, it might also be argued that the sum awarded is excessive in this case, but the picture will become clearer while the sum is far from being excessive if we introspect on Mr. Oluwasegun Oluwarotimi’s state of disability and ask how much is a man’s leg worth?

“Mr. Oluwasegun Oluwarotimi is now in a state of total privation and depression, consequent upon which his two children had to drop out of school, and his wife abandoned him and remarried to another man.

“We, on behalf of Mr. Oluwasegun Oluwarotimi, hereby passionately appeal to His Excellency to personally wade into this matter for a lasting legacy, to intervene on the side of the needy, the poor, the disprivileged, and the victim, to ensure that Mr. Oluwasegun Oluwarotimi is paid the judgment sum so that he could start to pick up the pieces of his life.”