Court orders DSS to pay driver N5m for unlawful detention

A Federal High Court in Abuja has imposed a fine of N5 million on the Department of the State Services (DSS) over the unlawful arrest and detention of an Abuja-based commercial driver, Sanusi Shuaib.

The court ordered that the N5 million must be paid to the detainee, while it also ordered the DSS to immediately release him, having clamped him into detention without trial since January 16, 2023.

Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon, in a judgment, yesterday, held that the DSS flagrantly flouted Section 35 of the Constitution, which prohibited detention of any Nigerian beyond 48 hours without an order of court.

The judge said DSS, on March 29 last year, got an order from the Federal High Court to hold and detain the driver for only 20 days to investigate and charge him to court, if indicted for any criminal matter.

According to the court, since DSS did not apply to the court for an extension of the 20-day detention period and did not charge him to court for any offence, any detention outside the 20 days was unlawful.

The detained driver had, through his lawyer, Bala Dakum, dragged the DSS before the court to challenge his detention without trial since his arrest on March 16. He claimed that the DSS, upon his arrest, accused him of having firearms for some terrorists and had since remanded him.

He prayed for his release and payment of N50 million in compensation for unlawful detention.

Justice Olajuwon, in the judgment, agreed that the fundamental rights of the applicant to freedom of movement had been breached by the DSS.

He faulted the claim of the DSS that it was granted six months to detain the driver, adding that what the court granted was just 20 days. He disagreed with the DSS that the detainee had been moved to a military detention facility in Gwagwa, Niger State, for trial in terrorism offences, adding that there was no evidence to that effect before the court.

The Judge also faulted the claim that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice approved the trial of the driver.

Olajuwon, who quoted the letter of the AGF, said the AGF office only recommended that a fresh investigation be conducted into the allegations against the driver, but which was never done.

He, therefore, nullified the continued detention of the driver and ordered his immediate release from the DSS custody in Abuja.