From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
A Benue State High Court sitting in Makurdi on Thursday awarded the sum of N800 million against the Nigerian Army and 11 others over the brutal murder of Sixtus Terfa Akure in the North Bank area of Makurdi, the state capital.
Sixtus Akure, a Senior Inspector of Taxes attached to the Benue State Board of Internal Revenue (BIRS) Gazetted Inspection Point near the “C” Division Police Station in the North Bank area of Makurdi, was found lifeless by the roadside near Aper Aku Estate in North Bank, Makurdi. This was a day after he was abducted from his duty post on Saturday, 15 January 2022, and whisked away by men of the Nigerian Army.
On 19 March 2022, a coroner’s inquest into the gruesome murder of Sixtus Akure commenced at the Chief Magistrate Court 1, Makurdi, with the late Mike Utsaha and Desmond Tor Wendeh as counsels to the BIRS.
The coroner’s inquest found the Nigerian Army culpable in the death of Sixtus Akure.
The BIRS, under the leadership of Mimi Adzape-Orubibi, briefed a seasoned lawyer, Desmond Wendeh, who filed a suit on behalf of Mr Akure’s family.
The Nigerian Army, [the] Nigerian Army Council, [the] Chief of Army Staff, [the] Chief of Defence Staff, [the] Commanding Officer, 72 Special Forces, Makurdi, Captain Osita Obe (then adjutant of 72 Special Forces), and the five soldiers who were identified as culprits were joined as defendants in the suit.
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The Nigerian Army, through their counsel, Isah Shaibu, filed their response to the suit.
In a well-considered judgement delivered by the trial judge, Justice Theresa Shija, the preliminary objection raised by the counsel to the defendants was dismissed, and the case was determined on its merit.
Justice Shija awarded judgement in favour of the deceased BIRS staff’s wife, Catherine Akure.
Justice Shija ordered the Nigerian Army and all the respondents to pay the sum of N800 million to Mrs Catherine Akure for violating the fundamental right to life of her husband.
The court further ordered BIRS to immediately give a permanent and pensionable appointment to Mrs Catherine Akure, whose husband was gruesomely murdered by men of the Nigerian Army at his duty post in North Bank, Makurdi.
It will be recalled that then BIRS Chairman, Mimi Orubibi, gave Mrs Sixtus Akure a casual appointment as a BIRS staff member after her husband’s death.
Reacting to the judgement, Mrs Akure appreciated the judiciary for being the last hope of the common man.
She commended the former chairman of BIRS, Mrs Mimi Adzape-Orubibi, for standing by her and the family throughout their trying time, describing her as a mother.
She equally commended her lawyer, Desmond Wendeh, for his legal services and support, and disclosed that the money awarded to her by the court will be used in catering for her children and the surviving mother of her husband.