Estranged aides of popular Yoruba Self determination campaigner; Sunday Adeyemo, known commonly as Sunday Igboho, have filed a fundamental human rights enforcement action before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja against the Department of State Services.
The aides are requesting that the court issue an order compelling the DSS to osy them N100 million in aggravated and exemplary damages.
The aides are requesting, among other things, “a determination that the applicants have not committed any lawful offense that will cause intimidation, harassment, and threats of persecution and degradation of their human person by the respondents breaking the law.”
“A declaration that the detention of the detention of the applicants by the respondent beyond 48 hours as entrenched by the constitution is illegal and violates the applicants right to be tried within a reasonable time.”
They also want a declaration that the respondent’s media parade of the applicants without a court conviction was illegal and unlawful because it violated their fundamental human rights to dignity, defamation of character, and right to innocence, as stipulated in Nigeria’s 1999 constitution as amended.
When the case was brought before Justice Obiora Egwuatu on Wednesday, the counsel for the aides told the court that they were instructed to serve their process on the DSS at the last adjourned date, and that they had already done so.
Idowu Awo, a lawyer for the DSS, told the court that they had received the aides’ process and had filed a counter-affidavit in response on September 6.
Awo, on the other hand, informed the court that his colleague, who was scheduled to appear with him in the case, was directed to deliver the case file to court on September 7.
He said, however, that the lady boarded a car that, unbeknownst to her, belonged to armed robbers of the “one chance” variety.
The armed thieves took everything of her things, including the case file, according to him.
He further told the court that he had already applied to the Process Registry for a Certified True Copy of the processes and that he was not in court with any copies to serve the petitioners.
As a result, Awo requested an adjournment so that he could collect the CTC and serve the Igboho aides’ lawyer with their counter-affidavit.
The aides’ lawyer conceded to the adjournment.
Justice Egwuatu, however stated that matter would not be resolved during the vacation court, which ends in a week,
Following that, he ordered that the case be returned to the court registry to be reassigned, as it is customary for things before the vacation court to be reallocated when the vacation is over.
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