Court orders senator to pay damages for slapping newspaper vendor

 High Court in Uyo has ordered a
former senator from Akwa Ibom State,
Anietie Okon, to pay N100,000 as
damages to a newspaper vendor,
Ndifreke Etim, whom he assaulted last
year in Uyo.
Mr. Etim, who walks around the city of
Uyo, hawking newspapers, had told the
court that Mr. Okon slapped him
multiple times inside Government House,
Uyo, in September last year.
The assault occurred around the state
banquet hall where the vendor had gone
with the hope of making quick sales
during the swearing-in of a new
chairman of Akwa Ibom State Council of
Traditional Rulers.
Mr. Etim claimed that three able-bodied
men, who may have been Mr. Okon’s
bodyguards, stood by to watch as the
former senator kept slapping him.
“When he finished slapping me, he
accused me of stealing his wallet. But
God knows I am not a thief, I sell
newspapers to take care of myself and
my family,” Mr. Etim had told JUST EVENTS correspondent

 in November, shortly after the
incident.
“He didn’t even search me to see if I had
his wallet on me or not.”
The victim, backed by the Newspaper
Distributors Association of Nigeria,
Akwa Ibom State chapter, filed a civil
suit against the former senator.
“I didn’t really think of reporting the
case to the police; I wanted it sorted out
in court,” said the vendor.
The court, presided over by Justice
Winifred Effiong, held that the action of
the former senator was degrading, and
that it was against Mr. Etim’s right to the
dignity of his person as guaranteed by
Section 34(1) of the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well
as the African Charter on human and
people’s right.
The court, besides granting an order that
Mr. Okon should pay N100,000 as
damages to Mr. Etim, also granted an
order of perpetual injunction,
restraining the former senator or his
agents from further breaching of the
applicant’s fundamental human rights.
It also ordered the former senator to pay
additional N50, 000 as cost of the
litigation to Mr. Etim.
“I am glad that the court has been bold
enough to tell the senator that what he
did against me was wrong,” Mr. Etim
told PREMIUM TIMES. “It’s not about the
money.”
When contacted, the former senator, Mr.
Okon, said he was yet to get a copy of
the court judgment.
Mr. Etim was represented in the case by
Ndianabasi Udofia, while Mr. Okon was
represented by Esther Archibong.