The Nigeria Army has been ordered to pay restitution of N1.25 million as compensation for assault on a Nigerian actress by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The Army was also ordered to publish a written apology in at least two national dailies to the Nollywood actress, Ebere Ohakwe, after she was physically assaulted by men of the Nigerian Army in February 2017.
The actress also known as Jewel Infinity had been travelling in a public vehicle from Port Harcourt, Rivers State to Onitsha, Anambra State when several men belonging to the Nigerian Army stationed at Omagwa axis of the Port Harcourt Airport Road stopped it for a routine stop-and-search.
The routine stop and search had escalated when the actress was severely beaten up by the security operatives at the scene.
The court which had been presided over by Justice Adamu Mohammed had earlier ruled on the matter in March 2018 but was forced to revisit the case when a counter application was filed by the Nigeria Army.
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In the ruling, Justice Mohammed had ordered the defendants (Nigerian Army) to pay the sum of N1m to the plaintiff as compensation for infringing on her fundamental human rights.
The Nigeria Army had however filed an application to the court to set aside the judgment and resume fresh hearing while the plaintiff’s counsel had urged the court to dismiss the defendant’s submission.
Consequently, Justice Mohammed struck out the application of the Nigerian Army, stating that it lacked merit.
The judge further awarded N250,000 against the defendants in addition to N1m the Army was expected to pay to the victim.