Some sort of justice has being serve as a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Tuesday, ordered the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Police Force to pay a compensation sum of N5 million to Adedotun Clement, an Uber driver who was a§§aulted by officials of the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency (LNSA) and police officers during the first anniversary of #EndSARS in October 2021.
Justice A. L. Allagoa, delivering judgement in the case marked FHC/CS/1862/2021, found that the LNSA and the police violated Clement’s right to dignity, and awarded him the sum as damages. One of the policemen who attempted to arrest Clement on the day of the memorial fir£d pepper spray directly into his eyes, causing irritation and redness of the eye.
In tweets by Barrister Inibehe Effiong, Clement’s lawyer, he said he hoped Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State Governor, would uphold the judgement and compensate Clement. ““During the first anniversary of the #EndSARSprotest on October 20, 2021, Mr Clement was carrying a passenger from the Island to the Mainland part of Lagos when he encountered the protest at the Lekki Toll Gate, which was disrupted by officials of the Lagos State Government and the police.
Following the pandemonium that ensued after policemen and officers of the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency fired teargas canisters to disperse the protesters and arrested many protesters, Mr Clement temporarily abandoned his car like other motorists and ran for his life. However, when he returned to pick his car, he was accosted, dr@gged, tort¥red and manhandled by the officers who refused to heed his entreaties that he was an Uber driver and only wanted to retrieve his car. The a§§ault was captured on video and reported by media houses.
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