A Benue State High Court sitting in Makurdi has awarded ₦500 million ($500,000,000.00) in general and exemplary damages to a lawyer who was assaulted, detained, and humiliated by police officers while attempting to secure bail for a client.
Delivering judgment on September 11, 2026, in Suit No: MHC/4110M/2026, Justice M. M. Ikwulono ruled in favour of the applicant, Agugu Iliamkondo Benson Bemsen (B. B. Iliamkondo, Esq.), finding that his fundamental rights had been violated by police personnel in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.
The case stemmed from an incident in May 2026, when Iliamkondo was retained to secure the bail of a client at a police outpost in Koti-Mbaduku, Shangev-Yav, Kwande LGA. According to the suit, the officer in charge, Inspector Terngu Ikyuur, demanded payment as a condition for the client’s bail. When Iliamkondo objected on the grounds that bail is constitutionally free, the officer allegedly ordered him to leave or risk being implicated in the case. As Iliamkondo attempted to submit a written bail application, the officer reportedly seized him, forced him to the ground, and detained him alongside his client and other inmates.
The court heard that the following day, Ikyuur allegedly forced Iliamkondo to carry a bucket of human waste on his head, made him chant that he was a “charge and bail lawyer,” and marched him through the community at gunpoint, threatening to kill him. He was later released — reportedly stripped half-naked and visibly brutalized — after the intervention of colleagues.
The suit named Inspector Terngu Ikyuur, CSP Banfa U. Nanzing, the Commissioner of Police for Benue State, the Inspector General of Police, the Police Service Commission, and the Nigeria Police Force as respondents. In addition to the monetary award, the court ordered the police to publish a formal apology to Iliamkondo in newspapers of national circulation, with a copy to be furnished directly to him.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Gboko Branch, under the leadership of its chairman, Felix Uwar, Esq., had assembled a 12-member legal team to pursue the case, comprising I. S. Gese, F. M. Z. Uwar, Bem-Ephraim Orlunan Ayati, T. I. Tur, S. L. Puusu, B. I. Aker, G. M. Jimin, S. S. Gbileve, C. M. T. Uwar, F. Tyoyima, B. E. Atser, and M. I. Tagher. The association has also filed a petition seeking disciplinary action against Inspector Ikyuur and his Divisional Police Officer, CSP Banfa U. Nanzing.
Reacting to the verdict, members of the legal team described the judgment as legally sound, compensatory to their colleague, and a deterrent to future police misconduct, while commending the NBA Gboko Branch leadership for its support throughout the case.
