RevolutionNow Protest: Court award N1m suit against FG for disrupting

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday awarded N1m against the Federal Government over the police disruption of the August 5, 2019, #RevolutionNow protest convened by the publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore.

Advertisements

The nationwide protest Led to arrest of Sowore amongst others by the Department of State Services on August 3.

The court awarded the N1m in favour of a Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, who said he participated in the #RevolutionNow protest and was among those tear-gassed by security agents.

Advertisements

The court, in a judgment by Justice Maureen Onyetenu, declared the disruption of the peaceful protest by the Federal Government, through the police, as “ illegal, oppressive, undemocratic and unconstitutional.”

READ ALSO: Buhari orders Police to arrest killers of 3 UNIPORT students

Advertisements

The judge agreed with the applicant in the suit, Ogungbeje, who sued on behalf of himself and other participants in the protest, that the Federal Government deprived them of their right to peaceful assembly and association, in violation of sections 38, 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution.

The judge also condemned “the mass arrest, harassment, tear-gassing, and clamping into detention” of the protesters.

Ogungbeje had urged the court to award N500m as general and exemplary damages against the Federal Government, DSS, and the Attorney General of the Federation, but the court only awarded N1m.

The judge also upheld the defence of the DSS that it was not involved in the disruption of the protest.

Advertisements

In the affidavit, which he filed in support of the suit, Ogungbeje said when he was co-opted into the #RevolutionNow protest, as a lawyer, he checked the constitution and found that it was lawful.

He, however, said on getting to the take-off point of the protest in Lagos “I met agents and operatives of the respondents who had barricaded the venue of the peaceful protest for good governance in Nigeria.

Advertisements

“I was tear-gassed by agents of the respondents and the peaceful protest was forcefully disrupted by the respondents.

“I have been denied my fundamental constitutional rights of peaceful assembly and association by the respondents, without cause.”

Apart from the N1m award, the court also ordered the Federal Government to tender a public apology to the applicant in three national daily newspapers.

Advertisements

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.