Federal High Court orders N100m damages for police killing

A Federal High Court in Calabar has awarded 100 million naira in damages against the Nigeria Police Force and several officers over the fatal assault of a 22-year-old man at the Cross River State Government House last year. Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu delivered the judgment on Thursday, July 9, 2026, ruling that the torture and killing of Onyekachi Mba constituted a flagrant violation of his fundamental human rights.

The court found that Mba was beaten and shot by police security personnel at the governor's residence in Calabar on August 1, 2025. The incident occurred after Mba insisted on seeing Governor Bassey Otu to deliver what he described as a message from God. He sustained severe injuries during the assault and later died at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital in Calabar.

The legal action was a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed on October 10, 2025, by the deceased's mother, Victoria Mba, through her counsel, Roland Ndubuka. The suit argued that the actions of the police violated Mba's constitutionally guaranteed rights to life, personal liberty, and the dignity of the human person. The respondents named in the case were the Nigeria Police Force, Assistant...