11th June, 2014
Ekiti State Commissioner for Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Funminiyi Afuye, has instituted a civil rights suit against the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Uyanna, and the Mobile Police Commander, Gabriel Selenkere.
Afuye, who filed the suit on Wednesday, is asking the court to grant him damages in the sum of N1 billion for physical assault on his person by Selenkere and his unlawful detention by the police.
The suit which was filed at the Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, was brought pursuant to Order 11 Rules 123 and 5 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement) Rules 2009 and sections 6, 34, 41 and 46 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
Afuye, a lawyer, was one of the victims of the June 8 assault on Ekiti people and Governor Kayode Fayemi by mobile policemen led by Bayelsa-born Gabriel Selenkere.
In his reaction to the suit, the Attorney-General of Ekiti State, Olawale Fapohunda, has indicated that the Directorate of Citizens in the Ministry of Justice is interested in the suit.
He said the State Government was committed to the protection of the rights of all those living in Ekiti State.
Fapohunda added that all cases of alleged police brutality and extra-judicial actions will be investigated with a view to ensuring the prosecution and dismissal from the force of erring police officers.