Tonye Okio, an aide to former Timipre Sylva of
Bayelsa State, has filed a lawsuit against
Governor Seriake Dickson and Bayelsa Police
Commissioner, Hilary Okpara, for illegally
detaining him. Mr. Okio, who filed the case at
the Yenagoa High Court, remains in detention.
SaharaReporters learned that Mr. Okio is being
incarcerated for making a Facebook post where
he alleged that a serving governor from the
Niger Delta was arrested abroad with $5 million.
The comment was made while Governor
Dickson was visiting the United States on an
undisclosed mission. The report heightened
tension in Bayelsa State, compounded by Mr.
Dickson’s belated return from his trip. Rumors
were rife in the state that Mr. Dickson had been
apprehended by US authorities. The governor
finally returned last week.
Murphy Biriabebe from the law firm of D.D.
Fiderikumo & Co. is representing Mr. Okio in the
lawsuit. The lawyer today gave reporters in
Yenagoa a copy of the affidavit detailing Mr.
Okio’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Governor Dickson had
ordered the arrest and detention of a citizen for
making comments on Facebook. Hearing in the
case has been fixed for November 6.
Mr. Okio, who served as a special representative
in Abuja under the Sylva administration, was
whisked away from his home in Abuja last
Thursday over an alleged defamatory comment
he wrote on his Facebook page.
Determined to regain his freedom, Mr. Okio
retained lawyers to file for the enforcement of
his fundamental rights and his release from
police detention. His lawsuit seeks the court’s
declaration that his arrest and detention are
contrary to the provisions of the 1999
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He wants the court to declare that his arrest and
detention on the basis of a publication on his
Facebook account was a brazen violation of his
fundamental rights. In addition, the plaintiff is
asking the court to rule that the physical and
mental torture to which he has been subjected
amounts to a denial of his right to dignity.
The lawsuit is also asking the court to award
him N2.2 billion in exemplary and general
damages.
An affidavit sworn to by Tonyo Murphy
Biriabebe, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, laid out
a narrative of Mr. Okio’s arrest. “On Saturday, 26
October 2013, some officers and men of the
Bayelsa State Command of the Nigerian Police
arrested [Mr. Okio] while he was in his house in
Abuja and whisked him away to their office in
Yenagoa and have detained him,” the affidavit
stated.
The rest of the affidavit stated as follows: “The
policemen refused to disclose to him their
reason for the arrest but simply informed him
that they were from the Bayelsa State
Command of the Nigeria Police and that he was
needed by Governor Dickson and the State
Police Commissioner.
“He was taken to Yenagoa by road, bound feet
to hands with cuffs and blindfolded throughout
the journey from Abuja to Yenagoa.
“Okio was also beaten and tortured by the
policemen who openly boasted that they will kill
him and do away with his corpse for daring
Governor Seriake Dickson.
“He was so afraid of being killed by the
policemen in the course of the dark journey as
the words and actions of his captors were
mutually reinforcing to the extent that he even
urinated on his clothes in the process.
“The former aide to Sylva has been in police
detention on the orders of Governor Dickson
since his arrest, and denied bail on the excuse
that the police are investigating to determine a
possible case against him
“There has not been any formal complaint
against him for any wrongdoing.
“There is no law criminalizing the making of the
above statement as contained in his Facebook
account, and same does not refer to any
particular person.”
SaharaReporters gathered that Mr. Okio's arrest
and detention arose from a criminal complaint
submitted by Governor Dickson to the Bayelsa
State Commissioner of Police to the effect that
Mr. Sylva’s former aide had defamed him.
Mr. Dickson was reportedly infuriated by Mr.
Okio’s post on Facebook stating that a governor
from the Niger Delta had been arrested abroad
for money laundering.
A few months ago, Governor Dickson had sent a
bill to the Bayelsa State Assembly
criminalizing rumor mongering and setting up a
committee to check the spread of rumors in the
state.

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/former-governor-sylvas-detained-aide-sues-governor-dickson-bayelsa-police-chief