A bid by Senator Elisha Ishaku Abbo to void the N50m damages awarded against him by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for allegedly assaulting a woman, Ms. Osimibibra Warmate, in a sex toy shop in Abuja in 2019 has hit the wall.
A three-member panel of an appellate court in Abuja, led by Justice Jamilu Tukur, dismissed Abbo’s appeal which he filed against the judgment given on September 29, 2020, by Justice Samira Bature on a fundamental rights enforcement suit by Ms. Warmate.
The court affirmed the judgment of the High Court and held that Justice Bature was right in upholding Ms. Warmate’s case and awarding N50m in damages against the Senator.
Senator Abbo’s argument that the suit was not properly commenced at the trial court and that he was denied a fair hearing, was struck out.
Abbo’s argument of him slapping Warmate, pulling her hair, and dragging her out of the shop not amounting to a rights violation but a case of simple assault, was also struck out.
The appellate court which held that Abbo’s conduct was “sufficiently outrageous,” resolved all five issues identified for determination against the Senator and further awarded N500,000 cost against him and in favour of Ms. Warmate.
They noted that Ms Warmate sufficiently proved that Senator Abbo violated her fundamental right to human dignity. They also said that going by the quality of evidence presented by Ms Warmate, including a medical report and video recordings of the incident, the decision of the trial court could not be tampered with.
Justice Senchi, who authored and read the lead judgment said;
“The decision of the trial court in the award of N50m against the appellant and in favour of the respondent was proper. The conduct of the appellant is sufficiently outrageous to merit the punishment as the facts of the case disclosed flagrant disobedience of the law, especially that the appellant is an elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
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