Court directs IGP to apologise to journalists over assault

A high court sitting in Otor-Udu, Udu local government area Delta state, has ordered the inspector-general of police, Mohammed Adamu Abubakar, the officer in charge, IGP monitoring unit, Abba Kyari and detective Reuben Noah, to pay three journalists the sum of 350,000 naira, being damages over their unlawful arrests and detention.

The affected journalists are Matthew Omonigho, Christopher Odamah and Onyekachukwu Meluwa of daily post, Delta trumpet and the Punch newspapers respectively.

They are based in Delta state and were unlawfully arrested and detained in Warri by the IGP monitoring unit.

The court, presided over by Justice Roli Daibo Harriman, also directed the respondents to tender an apology to the applicants in three national dailies within 14 days.

The three journalists separately approached the court for the enforcement of their fundamental human rights through their counsel, Oghenejabor Ikimi, seeking 10 million naira each as damages in suit.