Court of Appeal Upholds ₦5m Damages Against Police for Rights Violation

The Court of Appeal in Lagos has upheld a Federal High Court judgment ordering the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and several senior police officers to pay ₦5 million in damages to Lagos lawyer, Kola Sodiya, for violating his fundamental rights through an unlawful arrest and detention.

In a unanimous decision delivered on July 10, 2026, a three-member panel led by Justice Yargata Byenchit Nimpar dismissed the appeal filed by the Inspector-General of Police, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, the Officer-in-Charge of Legal, Zone 2, and two other officers. The court affirmed the March 28, 2022 ruling of the Federal High Court, which found that Sodiya’s constitutional rights had been breached.

The case stemmed from Sodiya’s arrest over allegations of forgery and falsification of documents linked to a property at No. 1 Banjoko Street, Harmony Estate, Ifako-Gbagada, Lagos. Police maintained that they were acting within their legal authority to investigate criminal complaints before charging the lawyer in court.

However, the Court of Appeal found that the police failed to establish any reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct before carrying out the arrest. The court noted that Sodiya was arrested at about 5:30 a.m., despite an ongoing civil lawsuit over the disputed property and earlier legal advice indicating that the matter was purely a civil dispute.

Justice Nimpar, delivering the lead judgment, emphasized that while the police have the power to arrest without a warrant under certain circumstances, such authority cannot be used to interfere in matters that are essentially civil in nature. The court also relied on evidence showing that a later police investigation found no proof to support the criminal allegations and recommended that the dispute be resolved through the civil courts.

The appellate court held that Sodiya’s arrest and detention violated his constitutional rights to personal liberty and human dignity. Justice Nimpar further ruled that the officers involved acted outside the lawful scope of their duties and could therefore be held personally accountable for abusing their powers.

Justices Muslim S. Hassan and Paul Hamed Bassi agreed with the ruling. In his concurring judgment, Justice Hassan stressed that the police have no legal authority to use criminal investigations as a means of interfering in civil disputes that are already before a court. He added that fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution must be protected unless the law expressly provides otherwise.

The Court of Appeal therefore dismissed the appeal in its entirety, upheld the ₦5 million compensation awarded to Sodiya, and ordered the appellants to pay an additional ₦1 million in legal costs.

The judgment reinforces the long-standing position of Nigerian courts that law enforcement agencies must not weaponize the criminal justice system to intimidate citizens or influence the outcome of private civil disputes.

… Court of Appeal Upholds ₦5m Damages Against Police for Rights Violation … Naijaonpoint.