The Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo, the state capital, has ruled in favor of a N20 million damages claim against the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for the improper arrest and detention of Eteidung Okon Nnanah Akpan, the Village Head of Ikot Oku Ikono in Uyo local government area.
The arrest was related to issues concerning an electric transformer in the village. Presided over by Justice Ntong Ntong, the court mandated the police to pay N20 million for the village head’s arrest on February 28, 2022, and April 28, 2022, at the Anti-cultism Unit (ACU) of the state Police Headquarters, Ikot Akpanabia, and the subsequent ongoing harassment.
The court specified the distribution of the amount, with instigator Jimmy Godwin to pay N10 million, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Zone 6, Calabar, Cross River State, who authorized the action, N6 million, and Investigative Police Officer (IPO) Inspector Wofai Johnson of Anti-vice Unit (AVU), Zone 6, Calabar, who followed the unlawful order of the AIG, to pay N4 million to the village head of Ikot Oku Ikono.
