The Federal High Court has ruled that the detention of Jones Abiri, the journalist held for two years by the Department of State Services (DSS) is illegal.
Jones Abiri, a Bayelsa-based journalist and publisher of the Weekly Source Magazine, was arrested in 2016 over trumped-up charges of terrorism.
He was arrested at his office in Yenagoa, the state capital, for his alleged link to armed militancy in the Niger Delta region, an allegation he denied.
The presiding judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba therefore, ordered the security agency to pay N10.5 million as damages to the journalist.
In his decision, Justice Dimgba reasoned that the DSS did not deny arresting and detaining him since July 2016, denying him access to his doctors, family and friends.
The judge stated that when Abiri was eventually charged to court earlier this year, he was not charged with the crimes for which he was arrested.
The judge then ruled that the DSS acted outside the provisions of the law regarding the Terrorism Prevention Act, and therefore, ordered the agency to pay the sum.
