Court orders Lagos govt and police to pay N5m to UBER driver assaulted during #EndSARS memorial

A federal High court in Lagos has ordered the Lagos state government and Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to pay N5 million as compensation to Adedotun Clement, a driver of a cab-hailing service who was manhandled by the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (LNSA) and police officers during the #EndSARSMemorial rally at Lekki tollgate in October 2021.

Videos that were shared on social media at the time, showed Clement being manhandled by LNSA personnel and police officers during the #EndSARSMemorial rally that was organized to mark the one-year anniversary of the rally that saw many Nigerians take to the street in protest against police brutality and the call for the notorious SARS unit to be disbanded.

After videos of Clement being manhandled was shared online, the LNSA announced that it had suspended the officers involved in the assault of the driver, and apologized to the victim. Clement however went to court and demanded N500 million from the state government as compensation.

Delivering judgment in the case on Tuesday, March1 4, the presiding judge, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, held that the treatment of Clement on October 20, 2021, amounted to violations of his right to dignity and awarded the sum of N5 million to him as compensation.

Reacting to the development, Inibehe Effiong, the applicant’s counsel, asked Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, to comply with the verdict and pay the compensation.