On Wednesday, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Department of State Services were the targets of two separate fundamental rights enforcement lawsuits filed by two siblings of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) suspended Governor, Godwin Emefiele, against the AGF and the DSS.
George Emefiele and Okanta Emefiele, two brothers, sued the two respondents in an effort to compel compliance with their fundamental rights, including the freedom of movement.
Separately, they had petitioned the court, asking for, among other reliefs, an order of perpetual injunction barring the secret police from approaching, intimidating, harassing, detaining, or arresting them in connection with “matter or body of matter which relates to the ongoing investigation of Mr. Godwin Emefiele and/or matters outside the constitutional and statutory mandate of the 1st respondent (DSS)”.
In the two distinct cases, the applicants had joined the DSS and AGF as respondents.
The applicants’ attorney, Grace Ehusani, informed the court at the resumed hearing of the cases on Wednesday that the applicants had submitted a notice of discontinuation of the matter on their own. She did not, however, provide any explanation for the application.
Ibrahim Awo, the DSS’s attorney, did not oppose the application but urged the court to dismiss the matter rather than strike it out as the petitioners’ attorney had sought.
Then, he requested a large cost of N2 million against the petitioners and in favor of the respondents.
Maimuma Lami-Sheru, the AGF’s attorney, agreed with the DSS attorney’s proposal and requested a N2 million fee.
Justice Emmanuel Okpe, a vacationing judge, ruled from the bench that the proceedings should be dismissed and that the applicants should not be required to pay any fees.