Lawyer threatens N1bn suit against army over ‘shooting of student by soldier’

Tope Akinyode, the national president, Revolutionary Lawyers’ Forum (RLF), has threatened to sue the Nigerian army over the alleged shooting of Emmanuel Madubuezia, a student, by a soldier.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Akinyode also demanded N1bn as compensation for the 2017 incident which resulted in the amputation of Madubuezia’s leg.

According to the statement, the student was in a commercial tricycle heading to Port Harcourt Polytechnic on September 14, 2017, when he was hit by a stray bullet on his hand and left leg.

The bullet had reportedly pierced through his left leg and he was rushed to the hospital shortly after he fainted.

The statement, however, said that the student couldn’t be treated in three different hospitals until his leg was later amputated at the Holy Trinity Hospital, Port Harcourt on September 25, 2017.

“The Nigerian army not only failed to foot the medical treatment of Emmanuel but also did not offer him compensation and never sought to assist him in any way despite the excruciating agony and eternal damage they have done on the man,” the statement read.

It added that when “Emmanuel wrote the Nigerian army to demand N150 million compensation, the army authorities vowed not to pay him a dime.”

“In the letter of response to Emmanuel, the Army authorities admitted that Emmanuel was shot by it’s operatives and that the conduct was ‘highly unprofessional’ but the said operatives acted on a ‘frolic of their own’ and that the offence is criminal in nature therefore, there’s no need for compensation and the Army will not take liability for the actions of the said operatives,” the statement added.

“Emmanuel Madubuezi and his mother who both spoke to me over the phone on Sunday evening have actually passed through a lot.

“As they have both instructed, we’ll ask the court to compel the Nigerian Army to pay N1 Billion Naira compensation. The law suit will be filed this week.”

TheCable Lifestyle had earlier reported how a soldier killed Rinji Bala, a 300-level student of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), with the army later describing the act as a mistake.