One of the four suspects paraded by the police in connection with the March 12, 2015 robbery of the Lekki branch of First City Monument Bank, Ebi Tosan, has sued the police. He is seeking N1m as damages. The 20-year-old, who was arrested on April 5, 2015, claimed that it was unlawful for the police to continue to keep him in detention without admitting him to bail.
Tosan, who was paraded by the police along with three others – Duke Odogbo, 38; Lawrence Kingsley, 31; and Ekelemo Kuete, 30 – is seeking an order directing the police to immediately release him on bail.
The suspect’s lawyer, Chief S.W. Baidi, argued that the suspect’s continued detention without bail was an “infringement and curtailment of the applicant’s constitutional right to personal liberty, freedom of movement and presumption of innocence.”
Tosan is seeking a declaration that his arrest, torture and continued detention by the State Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, without bail was a violation of his human rights, preserved by sections 34(1)(a), 35(1)(4) and Section 41 of the 1999 constitution.
About five persons, including three policemen and a fish hawker, were reportedly killed while several others sustained injuries during the shooting spree said to have lasted about 30 minutes.