Naira Marley, Sam Larry Sue Police, Magistrate, Seek N40m Damages

Nigerian music sensation, Abdulazeez Adeshina Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley, and Samson Balogun Eletu, known as Sam Larry, have taken legal action against the Lagos Commissioner of Police, demanding their immediate release from detention and seeking N20 million each as compensation.

The duo filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit, naming several co-respondents in the case.

Joined as co-respondents in the lawsuit are Deputy Commissioner of Police, Waheed Ayilara, from the Homicide section in Panti Yaba, Lagos, and Adeola Olatunbosun, the Chief Magistrate of Court 1 in Yaba, Lagos.

Marley and Larry were apprehended by the police on October 3rd and 4th, 2023, respectively, in connection with the alleged death of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, also known as Mohbad.

On October 4th, the police secured an order from Yaba Magistrate Court to detain them for 30 days while they investigated the death of Mohbad. However, Chief Magistrate Adeola Olatunbosun later granted the police permission to detain them for only 21 days, which subsequently ended on October 26th.

Despite the expiration of the detention period, Naira Marley and Sam Larry claim that the police have continued to hold them in custody, infringing upon their fundamental rights as citizens of Nigeria, including their right to personal liberty and freedom of movement.

In their affidavit filed with the suit, they stated, “Consequently, they are seeking the following orders from the court:

“A declaration that the continued detention of the Applicants by the Police at the Homicide Section of the Lagos State Police Command, Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, since the lapse of the order for remand, constitutes a violation of the Applicants’ constitutional right to personal liberty and human dignity, as guaranteed by Section 34 (1)(a)(b), 35, 41 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Article 4, 5, and 6 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, (CAP A9) LFN 2004.”

“An order of the Honourable Court releasing the Applicants forthwith. The sum of N20,000,000 (Twenty Million Naira) each as damages for the breach of the Applicants’ fundamental rights to personal liberty and dignity of the human person.”

As of now, no specific date has been set for the hearing of this significant lawsuit.