Inspector Henry Ale is recorded as the only police officer that ever sued former President Olusegun Obasanjo according to a clipping from The Republic newspaper.
The incident started on December 1, 1988, when the Inspector was said to have stopped the former head of state at a police checkpoint for a routine search.
The report said as a result of this action of his, he was allegedly bundled to Ota, the Ogun State location of Obasanjo farms and reportedly stripped and dealt with. He was said to have lost two teeth and got injured from the incident.
On December 15, that year, Ale engaged the law firm of Chief Gani Fawehinmi to demand ₦250,000 in compensation and an apology, setting a deadline of December 31, 1988. When Obasanjo refused to comply, Ale sued for violation of his fundamental human rights on January 19, 1989 and demanded for ₦600,000.
On July 6, 1989, after several adjournments, the judge, Adewale Oduntan dismissed the lawsuit and, according to Archivi, a historical medium, the judge ruled that only government prosecutors could file cases for violations of fundamental human rights and that Ale’s suit should have been filed as a common law matter.
Credit: Ethnic African Stories
