The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday awarded the sum
of N10.5 m against the Department of State Services (DSS) for the illegal
detention of a journalist, Jones Abiri, for over two years without trial,
reports ITREALMS.
Delivering judgment in a fundamental human rights
enforcement suit filed on behalf of the Yenagoa -based journalist by Mr. Femi
Falana (SAN), Justice Nnamdi Dimgba held that his detention for that period
without trial constituted a violation of his right.
However, reacting, the Président, Nigerian Union of
Journalists, NUJ, Comrade Abdulwaheed Odusile commended the nation's Judiciary
on the Judgement quashing à criminal case levelled against à Bayelsa based
Journalist, Jones Abiri by Department of State Security Service, DSS.
Comrade Odusile in a statement by the Director-General Team
Odusile 2018, Dr. Qasim Akinreti, said the Judgement was a demonstration
of thé fact that there is hope for common man.
The NUJ President who is seeking à second term of Office in
the forthcoming Triennial Delegates Conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State said the
Judgement would go a long way at sending a signal to the powers that be that
ordinary Nigerians, especially Journalists should not be maltreated while
discharging their constitutional duties.
He warned that as the 2019 Elections draw nearer, Security
Agencies, Politicians and the General Public should see men of the Fourth
Estate of the realm as partners in Progress.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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