An Enugu State High Court, presided over by Justice CO Ajah, has ordered the state Commissioner of Police (CP) and a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Chidobe Ekeleme, to pay the sum of N20 million for violating the right to life of late Chika Chukwu Onwe.

The judge said the fine was a result of killing Onwe in their custody without trial and in a manner lacking due process.

Onwe was arrested in 2019 alongside Izuchukwu Ani in Agbani community in Nkanu West Local Government Area (LGA) by the police following a cult clash in the area on suspicion of being a member of a secret society in the state.

They were taken to the Anti-Cult Police Station, where they were detained and denied bail. It was also said that since the day of their arrest, they have neither been brought to court to face trial for their crime, nor have they been allowed access to their family members.

Onwe’s lawyer, Mr Chukwunonso Ogbe, told the court that all efforts by Onwe’s mother, Confidence Nkechi, and uncle, Anayo Ume, to get information about his whereabouts have proved unsuccessful.

“They were continually turned away by the police,” he said.

He added that as a way to get justice for the youth, the distraught mother and uncle took the matter to the State Police’s Brutality and Extrajudicial Killing Unit. He noted, however, that the panel’s report has remained secret since then.

Ruling on the matter, Justice Ajah also held that the continued disappearance of Onwe after his arrest by the police amounts to a violation of the right to life as guaranteed under section 33 (1) of the constitution. He ordered the police to bring him in, dead or alive, without further delay.

He also ordered the police to tender a written apology to Onwe’s mother, Nkechi, and publish the same in two national dailies for violating the youth’s right to life.