A Benue State High Court in Makurdi has ordered the Nigerian Army to pay N800 million in damages for the brutal murder of Sixtus Akure, a senior tax officer with the Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS). The judgment comes three years after Mr. Akure’s death from a violent assault by soldiers in 2022. The case was initiated by the former BIRS Chairman, Mrs. Mimi Orubibi.
Mr. Akure was stationed at the BIRS Gazetted Inspection Point near the “C” Division Police Station in the North Bank area of Makurdi. On January 15, 2022, he was abducted from his duty post by soldiers and found lifeless by the roadside near Aper Aku Estate in North Bank, Makurdi, the following day.
A Coroner Inquest into Mr. Akure’s death commenced on March 19, 2022, at the Chief Magistrate Court 1 in Makurdi. The inquest, represented by the late Mike Utsaha and Desmond Tor Wendeh as counsels for BIRS, found the Nigerian Army culpable.
Mrs. Orubibi filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Akure’s family against the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Army Council, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff, Commanding Officer of the 72 Special Forces, Captain Osita Obe (then adjutant of the 72 Special Forces), and five soldiers identified as the culprits. The Nigerian Army, through their counsel Isah Shaibu, responded to the suit.
In her judgment, Justice Theresa Shija dismissed the preliminary objections raised by the defendants’ counsel and ruled in favor of the deceased’s wife, Catherine Akure. Justice Shija ordered the Nigerian Army and the other respondents to pay N800 million to Mrs. Akure for violating her husband’s fundamental right to life. Additionally, the court ordered BIRS to provide Mrs. Akure with a permanent and pensionable position.
Following the ruling, Mrs. Akure expressed her gratitude to the judiciary, describing it as the last hope for the common man. She also thanked Mrs. Orubibi for her unwavering support and her lawyer, Desmond Wendeh, for his legal assistance. Mrs. Akure stated that the awarded money would be used to care for her children and her husband’s surviving mother.
