The Defendant in response to the Plaintiff’s application states that, the officers on
duty on the said date requested the Plaintiff to present an identification at the
checkpoint, he refused to be checked claiming that he is an ECOWAS citizen and
based on the provisions on free movement of persons and goods he does not need to
present any identification.
That the Plaintiff rather than submitting his identification resorted to shouting and
tried to force his way into its territory. That a security officer who heard what was
going on quietly led the Plaintiff to the office of the Head of the Brigade and
requested that he should instead show his passport to the Head of the Brigade but
still the Plaintiff refused to submit it.
The Head of Brigade advised the Plaintiff to lodge a complaint with the border police
instead of engaging the security officers in a "brawl". The Plaintiff then submitted
his passport to the Brigade head who ordered that his passport be stamped and
returned to the Plaintiff to continue with his journey.
That the Plaintiff left the border post in a good state of health both physically and
mentally. That they were surprised when they received a notice that the Plaintiff
lodged a complaint against its officers claiming that he was given a beating of a life
time and his passport seized by the security officers.
After they received the complaint through the INTERPOL, the Beninois police
cooperated in carrying out the investigation. In the course of the investigation, both
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