A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Olukoya
Ogungbeje, has filed a N50bn suit against President Muhammadu Buhari,
the Department of State Services and its Director-General, Lawal Daura,
along with others for allegedly violating the rights of judges whose
houses were raided by the DSS operatives between October 8 and 9
Others joined as defendants in the suit,
with number FHC/ABJ/CS/809/16, are the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN); the
Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris; and the National Judicial
Council.
Ogungbeje filed the suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, October 14.
He alleged that the arrest of the judges without recourse to the NJC was unlawful and amounted to humiliating them.
He said the DSS operations violated the rights of judges under sections 33, 34, 35, 36 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution.
The plaintiff sought 10 prayers, among
which is an order awarding N50bn against the defendants as “general and
exemplary damages.”
He also sought to be awarded N2m as the cost of the suit.
The lawyer also sought an order compelling the DSS to return to the judges the sums of money reportedly recovered from them.
He also sought a perpetual injunction
restraining the defendants from arresting, inviting, intimidating or
harassing the judges with respect to the case.
The DSS had, between Friday and
Saturday, arrested Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro of the
Supreme Court; Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja,
and Justice Muazu Pindiga of the Federal High Court, Gombe Division.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba’s residence was also searched but he was not arrested.
Others, who were arrested, had been
placed on suspension by the NJC pending the time Buhari and the various
state governors would approve its recommendation for the sacking of the
affected judges.
They are a former Chief Judge of Enugu
State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; the Presiding Justice of the Court of
Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Tsamiya; and the judge of the
Kano State High Court, Justice Kabiru Auta.
The DSS said it recovered large sums of
money in Nigerian and foreign currencies from three of the judges during
the raids on the houses of the seven judiciary officers.
The seven of them had since been released on self recognition by the DSS.
Arrested judges, Lawyer sues President Buhari, DSS, AGF, others for N50 Billion
No comments:
Post a Comment