An Oyo State High Court in Ibadan on Wednesday reserved judgment in a N100 million enforcement of fundamental human rights suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Fadi Alloush, a charcoal merchant, instituted the case against the EFCC and the Chief Executive of Coco Dor Nigeria Limited, Mr Houssam Nasreddine, and his company.

He demanded N50 million as damages for alleged blackmailing.

Justice Iyabo Yerima reserved the judgment after listening to the arguments of the counsel to the applicant and the respondents.

Yerima said that the judgment date would be communicated to the counsel as soon as it was ready.

Earlier in his argument, counsel to the applicant, Mr Olakunle Kamisi, had told the court that the EFCC unlawfully arrested and detained his client and violated his fundamental rights.

Kamisi said that the transaction between his client and Nasreddine was purely civil and not criminal, adding that this was no reason for the EFCC to arrest and detain his client.

He told the court that the EFCC unlawfully arrested and detained his client over a complaint that was supposed to be a commercial and civil transaction between his client and his business partner, Nasreddine.

Kamisi said that the applicant and Nassreddine were foreigners in Nigeria who engaged in charcoal export as business partners.

He said that he was relying on the 57 exhibits as well as the affidavits and the written addresses before the court as his arguments of the case.

The counsel added that the detention of Alloush in the custody of EFCC between March 9 and March 17 as well as detainment of his charcoal truck was unlawful and led to destruction of his business.

Kamisi urged the court to grant his prayer and award the sum of N100 million against the EFCC and N50 million against Nasreddine.

In his response, the counsel to EFCC, Dr Benedict Ubi, told the court that he was relying on his counter affidavits as well as his written address and some exhibits as his argument before the court.

Ubi urged the court to grant his application and refuse the application of the applicant.

The counsel to Nasreddine, Mr Bash Okoh, said he had shown to the court that in a civil transaction, crime could be inherent, maintaining that the right of the applicant was not tampered with.

Federal High Court in Lagos has adjourned till July 10 to hear a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Lagos State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulations 2020 signed in March by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in response to the menace of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plaintiff in the suit, Olukoya Ogungbeje, is seeking a court declaration that the Lagos law is inconsistent with provisions of Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution relating to fundamental human rights.

Ogungbeje, a lawyer, told the court that he had a duty “to protect and defend the sanctity of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from any contravention or infraction.”

He is praying the court to quash the conviction and sentencing of popular actress, Funke Akindele, alias Jenifa, her husband, Abdu-rasheed Bello, and 236 others arrested, tried and convicted pursuant to the Lagos State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulations 2020.

He urged the court to declare that “the purported arrest, arraignment, trial, conviction and sentencing of persons/Nigerian citizens under the Lagos State Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulations 2020 for an alleged offence unknown to law and violation of same, which cannot be grounds for criminal liability is a nullity.”

He urged the court to hold that by virtue of the Court of Appeal’s pronouncement in the case of Faith Okafor vs Lagos State Govt. and ANOR on November 4, 2016, “a directive issued by a governor is not a law and violation of same cannot result in criminal liability.”

The lawsuit, which is before Justice Maureen Onyetenu, has been adjourned till July 10 for hearing.

Ogungbeje, a lawyer, told the court that he had a duty “to protect and defend the sanctity of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from any contravention or infraction.”

Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika who announced on Wednesday, also disclosed that the flights would commence with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

The Port Harcourt , Owerri and Maiduguri airports will reopen to flights on the 11th of July, while other airports across the country will join on the 15th of July.

Passengers looking to travel out of the country will have to wait a bit longer as the dates for the restart of international flights into and out of the country will be announced later.

A statement by James Odaudu, Public Affairs Director, Ministry of Aviation says Senator Sirika thanks stakeholders in the aviation industry and indeed the Nigerian public who have had to cope with the adverse effects of the flight suspension for their perseverance and cooperation in ensuring a successful return of operations at the nation’s airports.

Passengers are highly advised to follow all the safety guidelines and protocols put in place to ensure that the airports don’t become channels of infection for the dreaded coronavirus.

He assures that government will do all within its powers to ensure a rapid recovery of the aviation industry.

Domestic flight operations are resuming in Nigeria, as follows:

Abuja & Lagos Airports will reopen on July 8, 2020

Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri & Maiduguri: July 11, 2020

Other Airports: July 15, 2020

Please note this applies only to Domestic flights.

The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on the governor of the State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to issue an order for the renaming of all sites and monuments that have been named after colonial masters in the state.

The move comes as Americans have continued to destroy statues and monuments of slave masters in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.

The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa has also directed its clerk, Azeez Sani, to address a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking an Executive Order that all streets named after colonial masters should be changed.

He stated that the intention of the motion was not about deleting history, adding that history could not be changed. According to Obasa, the kind of treatments meted on George Floyd in the United States must be stopped and that we should support those who protest against such an act.

He also said the names of some of some buildings and streets renamed after colonial masters should be changed because “it reminds us of these people that enslaved our people.”

“The motion is about us, about Africans. We have to tell the world about our own civilisation. The resolve is not broad enough. It is not about Lagos State alone. We have to tell African Union about  reparation started by the late Chief M.K.O Abiola” he declared

Contributing to the motion, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu representing Eti-Osa Constituency 2, opined that any history that makes a black person feel inferior should be changed.

”This is a right step in the right direction and we need to change our psyche and history that will not make us feel as human beings. We need to change the narrative that connotes superiority in our history. I want my colleagues to support the motion” he said

The motion was passed unanimously and the House asked the clerk to make the resolution known to the governor.
The executive arm may determine whether or not to act as such resolutions are not usually backed by law.

A Nigerian Doctor has narrated how an 8 months pregnant woman who had a “little quarrel” with her husband today July 1, chopped off his penis. 

@drpenking said the pregnant lady chopped off her husband’s penis after they got physical. The doctor reiterated that domestic violence goes both ways. 

He tweeted;

An 8 month pregnant wife had a little quarrel with her husband this morning which got physical. She grabbed a kitchen knife and amputated the man’s penis. When next you want to advocate against domestic violence, remember that it can be both ways. (Viewers Discretion Advised)

Oyeyemi said; 

“Though he gained admission to study law at Ekiti State University, he did not finish the course, neither did he go to law school.

“He has been parading himself as a legal practitioner for quite some time now and has been using that to swindle several people of huge amounts of money.

“The complainant had reported that Ojo used to parade himself as a lawyer, thereby extorting money from unsuspecting members of the public, despite the fact that he had never been to law school anywhere.

“Upon the petition, the DPO Ajuwon division, SP Andrew Akinseye, and his team of detectives embarked on a painstaking intelligence investigation about the self-acclaimed lawyer.

“In the process of their investigation, they came across a woman who was charged to court for an offence, but was duped by the suspect, who collected about N300,000 from her to perfect her bail condition, but never showed up in the court.

“The suspect was subsequently arrested after much evidence had been gathered against him.

“On interrogation, he confessed that though he gained admission to study law at Ekiti State University but did not finish the course or went to law school.”

The Federal Government has facilitated the release of 39 Nigerians detained for illegally entering Ghana.

The Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, made this known in a statement shared on its Twitter handle. It said the Nigerian citizens were arrested at Aflao border as they attempted to enter Ghana illegally.

“About a month ago, the Nigerian mission in Ghana got a call on the arrest of six Nigerians who were caught at Aflao border trying to enter Ghana,” the statement reads.

“The Nigerian consular team was dispatched by the High Commission to intervene immediately, and on getting there, they met with about 30 more Nigerians who were arrested for also trying to enter Ghana through illegal routes due to the border closure.”

The consular team was said to have appealed to the immigration officials not to prosecute the culprits.

“The officials agreed and allowed the team to get their details to secure approval from the appropriate authorities for them to be evacuated along with stranded Nigerians, as the Ghanaian immigration would not permit them to proceed into Ghana because of the border closure,” the statement continued.

The NiDCOM further explained that the mission staff paid two visits to the detainees before they were released.

The citizens would be brought back to Nigeria after taking Covid-19 test in line with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control protocols.

The statement read, “There are in total about 50 Nigerians detained by the Ghanaian immigration authorities because some were moved away from Aflao and kept somewhere else.

“As instructed by the NCDC, they need to do their COVID-19 tests before returning to Nigeria.

“As soon as this is done they will return with the next set of returnees.

“However, it should be noted that 11 of the detainees have escaped, according to Ghanaian immigration.”

The Federal Capital Territory High Courts will  on Monday, July 20th, 2020 commence its Annual Vacation.

This was made known in a circular signed by the FCT Chief  Judge, Justice Ishaq Bello, to all the judges of the high court.

Justice Bello, noted that the courts would resume for the new legal year on Monday September 7th, 2020.

According to him, the directive was in compliance with the provisions of Order 52, Rule 4 (1) of the rules of the High Court.

“In exercise of the powers conferred on me by Order 52 Rule 4 of the Rules of this court, I hereby declare that the Court will proceed on Annual Vacation beginning from Monday 20th July, 2020 to Monday 7th September, 2020.”

“However Each Division shall leave behind a vacation judge,”he said.

Chinese social media app, TikTok, is still able to access notes on iphone users’ clipboard, Apple’s beta iOS 14 release has revealed, showing that the app has not kept to its promise early this year to stop accessing sensitive information on customers phones.

TikTok came under fire earlier this year for accessing devices’ clipboards, and in a statement promised to end it’s snopping actions, but users testing the new operating system of Iphone have found TikTok has not kept its promise.

When the TikTok app accesses the clipboard on a device with iOS 14, a notification appears at the top showing that TikTok was looking at the clipboard every free strokes even when it was running in the background, the Telegraph reports.

Dear Young Lawyers.

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