Six years after a court ruled that the Department of State Services (DSS) should pay a Sokoto businessman its operatives unlawfully shot N10million compensation, the agency has finally complied with the judgment.
To make up for the delay in remedying the years of untold hardship caused the man, the DSS doubled the amount to N20million.
The victim was shot in April 2, 2016, by the agency operatives who raided his Jos, Plateau State residence.
The operatives were in search of a suspected gunrunner who shared the same last name with the man but ended up shooting him on the thigh only to discover he was not the suspect they were after.
The operatives later that day arrested the actual suspect and transferred him to Abuja.
But after shooting the businessman, they realised their mistake and rushed him to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) where they abandoned him.
As if that was not enough, the man was left untreated due to doctors’ strike and was eventually moved to a military hospital.
Life took a devastating turn for the businessman after the incident. He lost his capital, his thriving fertiliser business, and became indebted. Unable to keep up with rent, he was evicted from his home. The injuries, coupled with financial struggles, forced him to relocate to Sokoto State with his family.
The aggrieved businessman approached the court with a rights suit which was decided in 2018 in his favour and the DSS ordered to pay N10million compensation, a debt that was only redeemed on Friday, March 15.
Redeeming the judgment debt, Director-General of the DSS, Adeola Ajayi, added another N10 million as a goodwill gesture to help the businessman rebuild his life.
Recounting the harrowing experience, the businessman who requested anonymity due to security concerns said the operatives arrived at his apartment around 4:30am that day.
“They banged on my neighbours’ doors, asking for someone with my name.’’
