Hope appears bleak for Yoruba self-determination activist, Sunday Adeyemo as the Appeal Court on Tuesday set aside N20 billion damages awarded to him last year after the violent invasion of his residence in Ibadan.
Adeyemo had gone to court challenging the action which led to the death of some of his aides.
In its sitting, the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan nullified the judgement of an Oyo State High Court which awarded N20 billion damages to the Yoruba self-determination activist, popularly known as Igboho.
Delivering the judgement in an appeal filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, State Security Service and Director, State Security Service in Oyo State, Justice Muslim Hassan held that Justice Ladiran Akintola, who delivered the judgement on September 17, 2021, acted on the wrong principles of law in awarding the cost to Igboho.
He said that Justice Akintola can’t assess damages claimed by Igboho using his own conceived parameters.
Justice Hassan thereby set aside the earlier judgment which declared the attack on the house of Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo illegal.
The court also nullified the N20 billion exemplary and aggravated damages awarded against the Department of State Security (DSS) for the attack, describing it as outrageous.
Justice Hassan held that the Oyo High Court ignored the merit of the case while assuming jurisdiction, adding that the judge should not have awarded damages based on his personal parameters.