Court orders DSS to pay N50m damages to Osun monarch for illegal arrest
By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo
A Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, has fined the Department of State Security Services (DSS) N50 million for the illegal arrest of Oba Abideen Adeyemi, the Alamo of Ayegbaju-Ijesa in Atakumosa East Local Government of Osun State.
Oba Abideen Adeyemi had sued the DSS for forceful arrest and unlawful detention, accusing operatives of the security service of harassment and infringement on his fundamental rights.
The suit, numbered FHC/OS/CS/181/224, was filed before the Federal High Court in Osogbo on August 5, 2024.
The applicant joined the Director-General of the DSS, the State Director of the DSS, Mr. Geordi, Mr. Amosat, Chief Omololu Afilaka, and Rotimi Ajewole as respondents.
The presiding judge, Hon. Justice Adefunmilola Demi-Ajayi, stated that it was highly unprofessional for the DSS not to investigate the petition before the monarch’s arrest.
She also slammed the DSS for unlawfully procuring a magistrate’s arrest warrant.
Furthermore, the judge faulted the DSS’s actions via a malicious and frivolous petition written against Oba Abideen Adeyemi, stating that the DSS deprived the monarch of his fundamental rights as enshrined in Chapter IV of the Nigerian Constitution.
The court awarded N50 million as general damages for the loss suffered by the applicant and N200,000 as the cost of litigation against the petitioners.
