Court orders police to pay N100 million for murder of young man

A Federal High Court in Calabar has ordered the Nigeria Police Force and others to pay N100 million for the torture and murder of a 22-year-old man, Onyekachi Mba.

Mr Mba was beaten and shot by police at the Government House in Calabar, Cross River State, on 1 August 2025. This happened in front of the governor’s house after Mr Mba tried to see the governor to deliver what he called a message from God.

He later died at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital in Calabar from injuries he got during the beating and shooting.

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu gave the ruling on Thursday in a case about fundamental rights filed by the deceased’s mother, Victoria Mba, through her lawyer, Roland Ndubuka.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case was filed on 10 October 2025.

It sought to enforce Mr Mba’s rights as stated in Sections 35, 36, 37, and 41 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended).

These sections include the rights to personal liberty, dignity, and freedom of movement.

The applicant wanted the court to decide if the torture, inhuman treatment, and killing of Mr Mba broke his rights and to order compensation for this violation.

In her ruling, Justice Ojukwu said the torture, assault, and killing of Mr Mba by police at the governor’s residence on 1 August 2025, was illegal and unnecessary. She stated it was a clear violation of his fundamental rights.

The court called the police officers’ actions an “abuse of power and executive recklessness.”

Justice Ojukwu then ordered N100 million to be paid in damages by the respondents. She said this amount could be paid together or separately.

NAN reports that the respondents in the case included the Nigeria Police Force, Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Edet, the Police Service Commission, and the Commissioner of Police in Cross River.

Superintendent of Police Emmanuel Dickson, who is the chief security officer at the Government House in Calabar, was also part of the respondents.