Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Igboho yesterday floored the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the Department of State Security Services (DSS), as all reliefs sought against them were granted by Justice Ladiran Akintola of an Ibadan High Court in a suit seeking for N500 billion damages.
This is as the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malami, has announced that the judgment would be appealed while speaking on the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja yesterday.
NAN quoted Malami as saying that “efforts are already being made to commence the process of appealing the judgment.”
The court also dismissed an application filed by the counsel to Malami, Abdullahi Abubakar, challenging its jurisdiction to hear allegations against federal government agencies.
Justice Akintola while condemning in entirety, the action of DSS in invading Igboho’s house on July 1st, 2021, ordered the federal government and Department of Security Services to pay N20 billion exceptional and aggravated damages to him.
Counsel to Igboho, Chief Yomi Aliyu, SAN, had approached the court on the illegal invasion of residence of his client on July 1st seeking order of injunction restraining the respondents, their agents, privies, and/or associates in other security forces and/or anybody acting on their behalf and/or instructions from killing, arresting, detaining, molesting, harassing, and/or in way interfere with the applicant’s fundamental rights to life, personal liberty, freedom of movement and peaceful enjoyment of his property without fear of invasion of his house by the respondents and their agents pending the hearing of the applicant’s originating motion.
Also an order restraining the respondents, their agents, privies and/or associates in other security forces and/or anybody acting on their behalf and/or instructions from blocking the accounts of the applicant in any bank and/or placing no debit thereon and directing them to lift same where they had so acted pending the hearing of the applicant’s originating summon.
The three respondents in the case are the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the DSS and the Director of DSS in Oyo State as the third respondent.
But counsel to the AGF, Abdullahi, had filed an application challenging the jurisdiction of a state High Court to hear the activities of the federal agencies.
Justice Akintola in his judgement, cited several judgements by the Supreme and Appeal Courts in respect of the jurisdiction of the state High Court on such case, stating that the invasion of the house of the applicant violated his fundamental human rights as stipulated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
“Unfortunately, this court is not Father Christmas and cannot award the sum of N500 billion as requested by the applicant, but the court restrained the respondents from arresting or harassing the applicant.
“He has right to his free movement as contained in Section 35.1 (a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended,” he said.
