A Federal High Court in Calabar has ordered the Nigeria Police Force and several of its officers to pay N100 million in damages for the torture and killing of 22‑year‑old Onyekachi Mba.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu condemned the actions of the officers as “an abuse of power and executive recklessness.”
The case was brought before the court by Mba’s mother, Mrs Victoria Mba, who filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit through her counsel, Chief Roland Ndubuka, in October 2025.
The suit sought justice for the violation of Mba’s constitutional rights to liberty, dignity, and freedom of movement.
Justice Ojukwu ruled that the young man’s torture and eventual death at the hands of police personnel attached to the Cross River State Government House on August 1, 2025, were unlawful and unwarranted.
The respondents in the case included the Nigeria Police Force, ASP Victor Edet, the Police Service Commission, the Commissioner of Police in Cross River State, and SP Emmanuel Dickson, the Chief Security Officer at the Government House.
According to reports, Mba was beaten and shot by security personnel at the Government House. He later died at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital in Calabar from injuries sustained during the assault.
In awarding N100 million in compensation, Justice Ojukwu ruled that the damages could be paid jointly or severally by the respondents.
The judgment marks a significant rebuke of police misconduct and a recognition of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Nigeria’s Constitution.
