On Monday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and three other individuals were fined N10 million by the Federal Capital Territory High Court for violating fundamental rights.
Fidelity Bank Plc, Calistus, an officer of the EFCC, and Abdulrasheed Bawa, the former head of the agency, are among the other respondents in the lawsuit.
When Justice Peter Kekemeke rendered a decision in a lawsuit brought by Mr. Michael Kundera to enforce his fundamental rights, he severely criticized the respondents.
According to Justice Kekemeke, the applicants’ fundamental rights were breached when he was arrested and imprisoned without being charged with a crime or being given bail between May 15 and May 16, 2023.
A 75-year-old man shouldn’t be treated in this manner, he continued.
“I hereby declare that the arrest and detention of the applicant from May 15 to May 16, 2023, was unlawful and violated the applicant’s fundamental rights.
“The harassment of the applicant in a matter already decided by the court is a violation of his right, and the 1st to 3rd respondents exceeded their bounds.
“The case of the applicant succeeds, and the respondents are ordered to pay the sum of N10 million severally or jointly to the applicant for violation of his fundamental rights, ” he held.
Additionally, the judgment mandated that the respondents pay N2 million toward the action’s costs.
Kundera informed the court that he had been invited, detained, and denied administrative bail in a case that had already been resolved by an FCT High Court through his attorney, Dr. O. Orji, in suit number. CV/6258/23.
He claimed that the topic was a piece of land in the foreign affairs quarters that was rightfully his.
The matter is also proceeding before the Court of Appeal in a suit designated CA/ABJ/CV/533/2021, according to the applicant’s attorney.
Orji informed the court that the applicant, who was 75 years old, did not think it amusing to be dragged around, even after the respondents had seen the court’s ruling.
Thus, the attorney prayed for the court’s decision stating that the applicant’s arrest and detention on May 15 and May 16 were illegal.
