Court urged to order release of 17-year-old girl detained by police since August

Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

THE Family Court division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been urged to among others, order the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and others to grant freedom to a 17-year-old girl, Martha Solomon allegedly being detained in a police cell in Abuja since August this year.

The request is contained in a fundamental rights enforcement suit, marked: CV/3079/2020 filed on Martha’s behalf by her mother, Mrs. Blessing Adamu through a group of lawyers, including Festus Osimhen, Ester Uzoma and Collins Marshall.

Martha, said to be a JSS3 student of the Government Secondary School, Ado, Karu Local Government in neighboring Nasarawa State, was said to have been arrested by the police upon complaint of wrong doing made against her by Mrs. Uju E. for whom she had worked as a domestic staff at her (Uju’s) home within the Galadimawa Estate, Abuja.

Listed as respondents in the suit are the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the IGP, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Olufowobe Sherifal, Mrs. Josephine J. and Uju E.

The applicant, who contended that her continued detention without trial amounted to a gross violation of her rights, is seeking over N2billion in damages against the respondents, among other reliefs.

Mrs. Adamu stated, in a supporting affidavit, that “the sixth respondent (Uju) employed and deceived us, the parents of the applicant, that the 6th respondent would take care of the applicant by providing the applicant care and training, since I, the applicant’s mother is poor and was unable to afford the upkeep and training of the applicant.

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“In January 2020, the sixth respondent took the applicant to his house at Galadimawa Estate, Abuja and turned the applicant to a house girl for the purpose of employment.

“On the August 16, 2020, the applicant was seriously beaten and threatened to be burnt with hot electric pressing iron by the sixth respondent, at the sixth respondent resident at Galadimawa, Abuja, FCT, the applicant managed to escape from the resident of the 6th respondent to her mother’s house.

“The 6th respondent took videos and pictures of the applicant, and threatened the applicant to confess to offences. On August 19, 2020 the 6th respondent stormed the house of the mother of the applicant with heavily armed police men from SARS Unit of the FCT Command of the Nigeria Police to arrest the applicant.

“The applicant was arrested as a common criminal by men of the 1st to 5th respondent and taken to One-Man Police station, later to-New-Nyanya Police station all in Nasarawa State.

“The applicant was taken to Galadimawa Police Station and later. On  August 19, 2020 the applicant was transferred to the FCT Police command and kept under lock and key in the police cell of the second respondent at Asokoro, AYA, Abuja FCT.”

None of the respondents has filed any response.