The Medical Director of Ajike Medical Centre in Saka Village, Lagos
State, Dr Babawale Joshua and four of his staff, have dragged the
Inspector General of Police and Commissioner of Police, Federal
Special Anti-Robbery Squad, 'D' Department, Force CID Annex, Lagos
before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, over their alleged
continued detention, over a matter for which they have already been
arraigned before a magistrate court.
Other applicants in the suit are Dr Ogunrinde Opeyemi, Omoyinmi
Akinbolagbe, Muraina Temitope and Olaide Adenaju, while also joined as
respondents are Mr and Mrs Obinna Oleh.
The applicants, who are claiming N25million as damages, are also
asking the court to order their immediate release from police custody.
They also want the court to restrain the police, whether by
themselves, agents and servants from further arresting and detaining
them, pending the determination of the suit.
They are praying the court to declare that their arrest and re-arrests
by the police on September 3, 2013 Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad,
'D'
Department, Force CID Annex, Lagos on the instigation of Mr and Mrs
Oleh based on the same complaint for which they had been arraigned and
are now standing trial, is wrongful, illegal and unconstitutional as
it is a violation of their fundamental rights to dignity of human
person, personal liberty, fair hearing and freedom of movement
guaranteed by section 34, 35, 36 and 41 of the 1999 constitution as
amended and Articles 5, 6, 7 and 12 of the African Charter of Human
and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, cap 10, laws of
the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Dr Opeyemi in an affidavit in support of the suit, averred that "Mr
and Mrs Oleh brought their child called Master Kingsley Oleh, 13month
old boy, to our hospital for medical attention, and the child was
admitted and diagnosed of 'cardiac failure-secondary to
bronchopneumonia post measle infections and treatment was commenced
immediately."
"However, on June 8, 2013 at 9p.m, the child died and as at the time
of the demise of the child, Mr Oleh and three elders from the wife's
church were with him praying for him, and following the death of the
child, and Akinbolagbe, being the nurse on duty at the maternal time,
informed Dr Joshua of the transition of the child, and he directed
that the outstanding medical bill of the child be waived and the
corpse be released to the family in line with their request.
"Mr Oleh equally requested for a death certificate for the child and
same was promptly issued by me and given to Akinbolagbe, who in turn
released it with the corpse to the family as they left the hospital
with the corpse at 9:30pm on June 8, 2013.
"At about IIp.m., of same June 8, there was a victim of road accident
in emergency situation rushed to the hospital, and I was in the
emergency ward attending to the victim with the nurse on duty, and it
was whilst we were in the emergency ward that Mr Oleh brought back the
corpse and laid it on the same admission bed where he died in the
private ward of the hospital without notifying anybody.
"And because myself and Akinbolagbe were not aware of the return of
the corpse to the hospital, the corpse stayed overnight in the
hospital and in the course of the night, the corpse was mutilated by
rats because it was not protected. On the morning of June 9, 2013, the
Mr Oleh returned to the hospital with intent to retrieve the corpse
and when he found that the corpse was mutilated, he raised alarm, and
it was then I got to know that the corpse was brought back last night,
and the alarm drew a large mob to the hospital premises and the mob
were armed with stones and broken bottles, and in the face of the
danger, Dr Joshua was alerted and as at that time, he was in church,
and he quickly returned to the hospital with some ministers in his
church, and upon sighting him, the mob, commanded by Oleh, physically
assaulted Dr Joshua and sustained several lacerations allover his body
and his entire body was bloodied."
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