On January 13, the court will hear Speed Darlington’s N300 million lawsuit against Police IG.
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, fixed Jan. 13 to hear a N300 million fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by the jailed Singer, Darlington Achakpo, commonly known as Speed Darlington.
He filed the complaint against the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
After Abubakar Marshal, the singer’s attorney, requested an adjournment so that Garba Audu, the attorney for the I-G, could review and react appropriately to the processes served on him in public court, Justice Musa Liman set the date.
According to reports, on December 23, 2024, Justice Liman gave the I-G 48 hours to either charge Speed Darlington with a crime or release him on unconditional bail.
In a decision on an ex-parte motion filed by attorney David Ihuoma, who represented Achakpo, the judge issued the order and postponed the hearing to January 6 in order to hear the substantive case.
According to further reports, on October 8, 2024, Speed Darlington, 39, was freed on bail after allegedly being arrested by police on charges of “defamation and cyberstalking” against Burna Boy, the renowned award-winning singer Damini Ogulu.
Deji Adeyanju, a human rights activist and lawyer, claimed that Speed Darlington was detained in Abuja after being arrested in Lagos State on Burna Boy’s petition.
Marshal told the court that the matter was scheduled for consideration of the originating motion on notice for the enforcement of Achakpo’s fundamental rights when the hearing resumed on Monday.
Despite Audu’s claim that he had not yet received the process, the court verified that the police had been properly served by looking at the certificate of service in the court file.
The judge then gave Marshal instructions to provide Audu with a copy of the application in public.
After asking the Marshal if the singer had been freed, Justice Liman received a negative response.
In response, Audu informed the judge that Speed Darlington had already been charged with a crime by the I-G prior to the singer submitting the application ex-parte for his release.
He claimed that despite being admitted on administrative bail, the singer reportedly violated it.
Earlier in December 2024, the charge—filed before Justice Ekerete Akpan of Court 13—came up but was not heard, according to the police attorney.
According to him, an unsuccessful application was submitted to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer the criminal case to a vacation judge so that the offender may be arraigned.
He clarified that Speed Darlington’s arraignment before Justice Akpan was now scheduled for January 15th as part of the criminal matter.
The attorney went on to clarify that, in contrast to what was implied, the police did not disobey the court’s order because it would have been challenging to arraign the defendant by the time the order was issued, which was over the Christmas holiday.
As a result, Marshal asked the court to order the police to free the singer until his arraignment.
“We will request that your lordship issue an order admitting the petitioner to bail until his trial and arraignment.
Audu resisted the application, but Justice Liman, who acknowledged that the police were not wilfully disobeying the court order, advised Audu to make sure Speed Darlington is released to Marshal after he agreed to appear in court. “I don’t see anything the police will lose if granted bail,” the judge said. “If my lord will, as ministers in the temple of justice, we will ensure his presence in court on the day of arraignment,” he said.
He then postponed the hearing to January 13 in order to hear the substantive issue.
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