A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has imposed a fine of N5 million on the Department of State Services (DSS) for the unlawful arrest and detention of Sanusi Shuaib, a commercial driver based in Abuja.
The court has also ordered the immediate release of the driver, who has been held in custody since March 2023.
Represented by his lawyer, Bala Dakum, the detained driver took legal action against the DSS to challenge his prolonged detention without trial following his arrest.
Dakum claimed that upon the driver’s arrest, the DSS accused him of possessing firearms for alleged terrorists and has held him in custody ever since.
The lawyer sought his client’s release and demanded N50 million in compensation for the wrongful detention.
In delivering the judgment on Thursday, Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon ruled that the DSS blatantly violated Section 35 of the Nigerian Constitution, which prohibits detaining any citizen beyond 48 hours without a court order.
Olajuwon noted that on March 29, 2023, the DSS obtained a court order from the Federal High Court to detain the driver for a period of 20 days for investigation and possible charges if found guilty of any criminal offense.
She emphasized that the DSS neither requested an extension of the 20-day detention period nor filed charges against the driver during that time.
Olajuwon declared any detention beyond the initial 20 days as unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional, and null and void, stating that the driver’s fundamental right to freedom of movement had been violated by the DSS.
The judge disputed the DSS’s assertion that it was granted a six-month detention period, clarifying that the court order only allowed for 20 days.
Justice Olajuwon also rejected the DSS’s claim that the detainee had been transferred to a military detention facility in Niger State for trial on terrorism charges, stating that no evidence was presented to support this claim.
Furthermore, the judge refuted the security agency’s assertion that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice approved the trial of the driver.
Quoting the AGF’s letter, Justice Olajuwon explained that the AGF’s office merely recommended conducting a fresh investigation into the allegations against the driver, which was never carried out.
