*Pix above(l-r): PBAT and Lateef Fagbemi
PLEASE SHARE
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment on an appeal seeking to address the prevalence of extra-judicial killings inthe country, in which President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) are being dragged along.
The appelate court reserved the judgment after parties argued their cases for and against the appeal and adopted their briefs of argument on January 16, 2024.
The State Online recalls that an Abuja-based human rights and Constitutional lawyer, Emmanuel Ekpenyong Esq., has filed a suit against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division for the determination of the extent of his fundamental right to life guaranteed under Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution amidst alleged increasing cases of extrajudicial killings in the country.
The lawyer filed the appeal after a Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Nkeonye Maha, dismissed his fundamental enforcement rights suit for lack of locus standi (legal right) to institute the matter.
The lawyer had alleged that the increased and wanton loss of lives in Nigeria in recent times has put him in reasonable apprehension that his right to life, which the defendants in the suit were mandated to protect under Chapter VI of the Constitution, was likely to be contravened.
He had sued the President of Nigeria and the AGF and Minister of Justice as 1st and 2nd defendants in the matter.
In his originating summons dated and filed on July 10, 2020, the plaintiff submitted six questions for determination.
These included whether his “right to life as enshrined in Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) means the protection of his life beyond mere physical and animal existence and extends to the right to live a meaningful, complete and dignified life.
“Whether the plaintiff’s right to life enshrined in Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution prohibits any unlawful acts of omission or commission by the Nigerian state, Nigerian police, other law enforcement agents and private individuals which are capable of terminating his life.”
Ekpenyong, therefore, sought eight reliefs including “an order of mandatory injunction compelling the defendants to take immediate steps to overhaul and reform the Nigerian police and other law enforcement agencies to incorporate forensic science in their criminal investigations and ensure that every unlawful death committed are thoroughly investigated and the culprit arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction.”
He also sought “an order of mandatory injunction compelling the defendants to take immediate steps to improve the remuneration and welfare package of the Nigerian police and other law enforcement agencies in Nigeria and reorient them on what the right to life entails and the extent of their powers in criminal investigations.”
In response to the suit, the defendants jointly filed a counter-affidavit and written address, contending that Ekpenyong’s supporting affidavit offended the provisions of Section 115(2) of the Evidence Act, 2011.
They argued that the lawyer had no locus standi to file the suit and had not made out a case to be granted the reliefs sought.
Justice Maha, who dismissed the suit, on May 6, 2022, awarded a N100,000 cost against the lawyer.
But Ekpenyong in a notice of appeal dated and filed on July 22, 2022, appealed against the Judgment.
In an appellant’s brief with appeal number: CA/ABJ/CV/1200/2022 dated Dec. 22, 2022, and filed on Dec. 23, 2022, Ekpenyong urged the Appeal Court to hold that the trial court’s judgment amounted to a miscarriage of justice when it held that some paragraphs of his affidavit were incompetent and failed to determine the germane questions of law on the extent of his right to life under Section 33 of the Constitution.
The appellant who urged the court to hold that he has locus standi to institute the suit before the trial court, prayed the appellate court to hold that he has disclosed a reasonable cause of action against the respondents under Section 46 (1) of the constitution which entitles him to the reliefs sought.
The lawyer contended that his suit at the trial court was for the court to determine the extent of his right to life to enable him to take proactive steps to protect it now that he is alive.
Ekpenyong, who urged the upper court to vacate the N100,000 cost awarded against him, prayed the court to set aside the lower court’s judgment, allow his appeal and grant the reliefs sought in the originating summons.
But the respondents, in their joint respondents’ brief, dated and filed on July 18, 2023, by their counsel, O. A. Oloruntogbe in the Civil Appeals Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice, argued that the trial court held rightly in striking down part of the paragraphs in Ekpenyong’s affidavit for offending the rules of the Evidence Act, 2011, in Section 115 (2)./PLEASE SHARE
*Tags: Emmanuel Ekpenyong Esq., PBAT, Lateef Fagbemi, extra-judicial killings in Nigeria
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
**The State Online.com.ng; Nigeria’s foremost Daily Newsmagazine…Every story, a sumptuous meal courteously served…Bon Apeti!!!**
