A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has awarded N5m damages against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for wrongfully parading a photographer, Nasiru Saidu-Ali, popularly known as Kozzo, as a fraudster.
The photographer was arrested from his Abuja residence in May 2019 after his pictures were shared on the EFCC’s social media sites alongside those of other suspected online scammers.
After his innocence was proven, he was eventually freed, but Sa’idu-Ali went to sue the anti-graft agency for criminal defamation.
Through his lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the photographer sought N100 million in damages from the EFCC.
However, the court overruled the agency after five years, awarding N5 million in damages and directing the anti-graft agency to issue a public apology to the photographer on March 22.
The details of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgement delivered by Justice John Okorowo read in part, “An order of mandatory injunction is hereby granted, ordering the respondent, whether by themselves, their officers, servants or agents to forthwith remove the image and name holding out of the applicant as a fraudster to the public from the respondents’ Instagram and other social media platform.
“An order of mandatory injunction is hereby granted restraining the respondent, whether by themselves, their officers, servants, or agents from further holding out the applicant as a fraudster to the public without judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.
“An order of this honourable court is hereby granted directing the respondent to pay the applicant the sum of N2.5m as exemplary and punitive damages for the unlawful publication of the applicant’s image on the respondent’s Instagram, amounting to a breach of his fundamental rights to privacy.
“An order of this honourable court is hereby granted directing the respondent to pay the applicant N2.5m as general damages for loss suffered herein, amounting to a breach of his fundamental rights.
“An order of this honourable court is hereby granted directing that the respondents tender public apology on their online social media platforms to the applicant.”
Pelumi Olajengbesi, the claimant’s attorney, who spoke immediately after the ruling, reaffirmed that it was illegal and amounted to a misuse of authority for the EFCC to have made public the pictures of people it had detained on suspicion of crimes when those people had not been found guilty by the court.
The attorney told journalists that following protracted legal proceedings before the Federal High Court in Abuja, justice was eventually served. His business, Law Corridor, took up the photographer’s case pro gratis.
Olajengbesi stated, “Justice John Okorowo of Court 8 of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered the historic judgment on Friday, March 22, 2024, following numerous legal arguments and delays orchestrated by the EFCC.
“The court deemed the EFCC’s actions unconstitutional, as they violated Ali’s right to human dignity, encroached upon his privacy, and disregarded the noble and fundamental principle of presumption of innocence to have posted his picture on their social media.
“We’re happy that the court awarded ₦5million in exemplary, punitive, and general damages against the EFCC. As you can see from the CTC, the EFCC was also ordered to publicly apologise to the young photographer.
“Even though we asked for N100m, the court awarded N5m and also granted a perpetual order against the EFCC from arresting the photographer again.”
