Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) |
A human rights lawyer based in Abuja, Barrister Ahmed Ajibola Jimoh, has
urged the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) to compel the Inspector
General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to unseal the corporate head
office of the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN).
The Nigeria Police sealed up the property since February 28, 2017, despite subsisting court orders.
Jimoh in a petition dated August 13, 2018, specifically wants the
Presidency to direct police authorities to respect the rule of law and
obey court orders directing them to vacate the office located at No. 57,
Iya Abubakar Crescent, Abuja.
In the said petition, the activist informed Professor Osinbajo of the
two subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court, Abuja which ordered
police to unseal the office, but was not obeyed till date.
The petition, entitled: ‘Appeal to Mr. President to compel Police to
respect rule of law on Peace Corps of Nigeria’, Jimoh intimated the
Presidency that, “the Corps as a uniform youth organization engaging in
youth development, nation building, patriotism and neighborhood watch,
has been made to suffer untold hardships by the action of Police in
sealing up the office unlawfully”.
The activist recalled that Justices Gabriel Kolawole and John Tsoho,
have at different times, in their judgments issued orders to the Police
directing them to unseal the office in the interest of justice and fair
play.
Jimoh, however, noted with regret that Police rather than obeying the
court orders chose to remain adamant by blocking the entrance to the
office with a heavy truck and stationed several of its men to prevent
the officers and men of the Corps from accessing the office as directed
by court.
He also informed the Presidency that the flagrant disobedience to
court orders and utter disregard to the rule of law by the Police, run
counter to the tenets of democracy, warning that, “Police actions are
capable of causing anarchy in the country”.
The activist warned that “the use of naked powers and oppression
against the youth in the Peace Corps of Nigeria, who are being prepared
for a bright future”, were capable of spelling doom for the nation and
therefore urged the Presidency to passionately wade into the matter and
order Police to vacate the office.”
Jimoh stated that the attitude of Police in the matter of Peace Corps
was worrisome because the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, being the Chief Legal Officer, had
twice written the Inspector General of Police on the need to obey court
order in the matter of Corps, but that the two letters were treated
with levity by the Police and continued their deliberate and willful
disobedience to valid court orders.
Besides, the activist also drew the attention of the Presidency to
the order of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions
to Police to vacate the office based on petitions by the Coalition of
Civil Society Organization for Justice and Equity, adding that till
date, the Police have chosen to close their eyes against natural justice
and opted to take laws into their hands.
He, therefore, pleaded with the Presidency to compel Police to allow
the Peace Corps to access their office and property as ordered in the
two court judgments.
The petition, copied the Nigerian Police Council, AGF, Police Service
Commission and the IGP, read in part: “Your Excellency, with due
respect, it is my humble submission that the respect for the rule of law
in a democratic system of government as that of Nigeria is the very
foundation for any democracy and where an agency of government such as
Police has chosen to consistently act in total disregard for court
judgments, then the legitimacy of the government becomes doubtful.
“Also, Your Excellency, it is my humble submission that where the
rule of law is sacrificed for the rule by whims and caprices, such
situation is a war against the supremacy of the Constitution.
“I also submit that the attitude and conduct of the Nigerian Police
and IGP against Peace Corps, if allowed to continue, would have much
harms on the development of this nation than can be imagined.
“I humbly appeal to Your Excellency to compel and (or) order the
Nigeria Police Force and the IGP to obey the judgments of courts in
favour of Peace Corps with immediate effect and to also sanction the
IGP, who has unlawfully and illegally continue to violate and disobey
the valid and subsisting court orders without any reason allowed by
law,” he said.
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