Two Jos, Plateau State-based businessmen, Moses Dalyop and Abdulmumuni Yakubu, have sued the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, over their alleged unlawful arrest, demanding N10 billion as damages.
Other respondents are Nigerian Police Force, Olatunji Disu, Chuangyue Industrial Nigeria Limited and Chen Taohong.
The businessmen, in the suit filed at the Plateau High Court in Jos by their lawyer, Gyang Zi, are seeking the court’s enforcement of their fundamental human rights, alleging unlawful arrest, assault, torture, detention, embarrassment, harassment, pain and inconveniences caused to them.
In the process filed on Friday and made available to newsmen in Jos, the claimants, who have been in police detention for one week, urged the court to declare their detention unlawful.
They also urged the court give an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents either by themselves, servants, privies or officers from further arresting, torturing, humiliating, harassing, threatening or detaining them in connection with the case.
The claimants further demanded an order directing the respondents to release them from their custody forthwith.
Grounds upon which the reliefs were sought were that the two claimants were arrested on January 13 and 14 respectively by men of the Police Force Intelligence Unit and were taken to A Division Police Station, Jos.
According to the Affidavit deposed to, they were later moved to Abuja and detained in the custody of Disu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police and Officer-in-Charge of Police Intelligence Response Team.
Zi said that his clients were arrested based on the complaint of Chuangyue Industrial Nigeria Limited and Chen Taohong to the IRT.
Zi, who filed the suit, described the conduct of the respondents against his clients as a violation of the provision of chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
Zi argued that the detention of his clients violated their fundamental rights before the eyes of the law.
The legal practitioner explained that Ellipse Industries Limited and Chuangyue Industrial Nigeria Limited and Chen Taohong had a joint venture agreement.
Based on the terms of the agreement, Ellipse Industries Limited was entitled to 30 per cent of mined products, while Chuangyue Industrial Nigeria Limited is entitled to 70 per cent.
However, the venture agreement between the parties in dispute later became a subject of misunderstanding, leading to the 4th and 5th defendants’ business partners engaging the men of the Nigeria Police to arrest and detain the applicants.
