Youth Activist Files N9 Billion Suit Against DSS and Agip for Alleged Illegal Detention

Justice Ebiyon Duke Charlie of the Bayelsa State High Court issued a stern warning to the Department of State Security (DSS) against employing delay tactics in the illegal detention suit brought by Bayelsa youth activist, Collins Trueman Opumie. The judge cautioned that all parties involved in the suit against the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and the DSS must be present in court on the next adjourned date or face a fine of N500,000.

Collins Trueman Opumie, an indigene of Opuama community in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of Bayelsa State, filed a lawsuit against his alleged illegal arrest and detention, seeking N9 billion in damages. Opumie accused the DSS in Yenagoa of abducting him at the behest of NAOC in a manner he described as “gestapo style.” He alleged physical and mental torture, claiming he was bound and forcibly transported to Abuja without his family’s knowledge or access to medical care.

During the court proceedings, the presiding judge overruled the applications by the police and Nigerian Agip Oil Company counsels to call additional witnesses in the absence of the DSS counsel. The judge also rejected the police’s request to open their case, emphasizing that all defendants were expected to open and close their case on the same day.

Meanwhile, Agip filed an application to call an additional witness, which is yet to be addressed. Opumie has closed his case against the defendants, and they are expected to open their defense at the next hearing scheduled for February 12, 2024.

Following the court session, Ebipreye Sese, Counsel to the Claimant, expressed Opumie’s confidence in the judiciary as his last hope for justice. Opumie seeks the court’s declaration of his arrest and detention as false imprisonment and malicious prosecution, along with damages for the alleged violations of his rights. He also requests an injunction against further harassment or attempts to arrest him at the instance of the defendants.

The case continues to unfold as it progresses through the legal system, with Opumie maintaining his stance that the court is his ultimate recourse for seeking redress for his ordeal.

Daily Post