The judgement itself was unequivocal. A Federal High Court in Lagos held that the constitutional right to life of a young medical sales representative had been violated after he died in police custody.
The court awarded N100m in damages against the Police Service Commission, the Inspector-General of Police, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, a senior police officer, and a pharmaceutical company whose complaint had culminated in the deceased’s arrest.
Yet, the significance of Justice Ibrahim Kala’s decision extends far beyond the compensation awarded to the family of Omokhinyema Okubo, the son of a retired Commissioner of Police. It is the latest judicial reminder of an issue that has repeatedly confronted Nigeria’s criminal justice system, namely the use of the coercive powers of the police in disputes that properly belong before the civil courts.
The case raises difficult but necessary questions. At what point does an employment disagreement become a
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