Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday enforced a fine of N5 million versus the Nigeria Police Force over the negligent usage of statutory power versus a Nigerian resident.

The amount is to be paid to an Abuja based financier, Hyacinth Soonen Abera, whose bank account with Zenith Bank was frozen for several months by cops while acting as a financial obligation collector without an order of the court.

Justice Ekwo, apart from buying the cops to pay the fine of N5 million as payment and exemplary damages to the victim of the reckless use of statutory power, likewise purchased Zenith Bank to right away thaw the account with number 1006911956.

In a judgment in a basic rights enforcement suit instituted versus four accuseds, the judge held that the police acted ultra vires by functioning as a debt collector in a purely industrial deal between two celebrations.

The 4 offenders are Oludele Aderibigbe, DSP Yomi Musa, Inspector General of Police IGP and the Nigeria Police Force NPF as 1st to 4th accuseds respectively.

The judge held that it was incorrect of the police to have subjected the complainant to a series of threats of arrest and detention in a basic pure business deal and putting constraint orders on his savings account without any recourse to the rule of law.

The plaintiff had sued the offenders declaring that his essential rights to flexibility of liberty and human self-respect were broken and breached by cops with relentless hazards of arrest and detention on the instigation of the subsequent freezing and the first defendant order put on his Zenith Bank account.

He claimed, among others, that the very first defendant entered into an agreement with his business, Hysolat Limited to build a four-bedroom home for him in the Durumi area of Abuja at an expense of N30 million to be paid in instalments within 11 months.

He declared that at the end of the 11 months when N30 million should have actually been completely paid, only a paltry amount of N5 million was paid prompting the termination of the contract.

He further declared that instead of searching for remedy, the 1st defendant resorted to making use of police versus him which without hearing from him, the authorities caused Zenith Bank to freeze his savings account with no order of court.

The plaintiff averred that he and his family underwent untold difficulties specifically appetite due to unlawful freezing of his account and required N50 million settlement in addition to order of court to unfreeze the account.

Justice Ekwo in the judgment agreed that authorities acted outside the 1999 Constitution and Police Act in turning itself into a debt collector in a commercial deal and in carrying out savings account freezing without court order.

The judge consequently purchased the police to pay the complainant N5 million and Zenith Bank right away thaw the account.

A supposed order of an Abuja Magistrate Court to police to investigate the plaintiff was voided and reserved on the ground that the magistrate court has no jurisdiction in the matter considering that it was not a property manager and tenant concern.

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