- Abejide accused the governor of harassing, intimidating, and threatening him to win the November 11, 2023 governorship election to support his All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate
- The ADC governorship candidate also sought another order on Governor Yahaya Bello to pay him N2 billion for the alleged gross violation of his fundamental human rights in addition to tendering public apology
The African Democratic Congress’ (ADC’s) Hon. Leke Abejide is running for governor, and Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to provide maximum protection against any arrest or detention by the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
In a separate order, the DSS, Police, and Bello were forbidden from inviting, arresting, detaining, or endangering the gubernatorial candidate’s life or property while a lawsuit against them was being heard and decided.
The judge in Abuja, Nigeria, granted the restraining orders on Wednesday in response to an ex-parte motion that was brought by the governorship candidate’s Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Sammie Somiari.
The DSS, Police, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were instructed to protect the politician’s properties in Abuja, Kogi State, and anywhere else in the nation for the duration of the instructions in the enrolment order issued by Justice Mohammed.
The governorship candidate requested enforcement of his fundamental rights to life, dignity of person, personal liberty, fair hearing, peaceful assembly, and association in the ex-parte motion with the reference number FHC/ABJ/CS/1248/2023.
Additionally, he demanded that other applicable human rights statutes and the provisions 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, and 43 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantee people’s rights to freedom of movement and nondiscrimination, be upheld.
He bemoaned the fact that ever since he declared himself a contender for governor, Governor Yahaya Bello had allegedly grown anxious and vowed to have him arrested and incarcerated to keep him out of the public eye.
Abejide further asserted that the governor’s ultimate goal is to threaten, intimidate, and harass him in order to force him to withdraw from the November 11, 2023, governorship election and make room for his chosen APC candidate.
Justice Mohammed issued restraining orders against the respondents after hearing the senior attorney’s arguments and considering the supplied materials. These orders state that the applicant cannot be detained or mistreated while his substantive lawsuit is proceeding.
“An Order is hereby made restraining the respondents, their agents, servants and anybody acting through or under them from arresting, inviting, detaining or threatening the applicant’s life and properties pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
“An Order is hereby made compelling the 2nd – 8th respondents to immediately provide maximum security to the applicant in Abuja FCT, Kogi State and elsewhere in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit”, the judge held.
The judge ordered the applicant to serve all processes in respect of the suit on the respondents.
The respondents in the suit are the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, Nigeria Police Force, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Commissioner of Police (Kogi State), DSS, Director General of DSS, Director DSS (Kogi State) and the Commandant-General, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The judge thereafter, fixed September 20 for hearing of the substantive suit.
In the substantive suit filed on his behalf by Ogwu James Onoja, SAN, the ADC governorship candidate prayed the court for declaration that hounding, harassment, intimidation, threat to arrest, kill, detain by Kogi governor, using armed officers, militias and thugs to stop him from participating in the November 11 election is a violation of his rights to life and dignity of his human person.
He also asked the court to declare that the threat by Governor Yahaya Bello to attack, invade and destroy his motor vehicles, houses and offices so as to kill, arrest and detain him is a violation of his rights to peaceful assembly and association, freedom to life, dignity and personal liberty.
Abejide applied for an order of the court restraining the respondents whether by themselves, their agents or privies from arresting, abducting, detaining, or further harassing, intimidating, shooting, threatening him and his properties.
In addition to publicly apologising, the ADC governorship candidate demanded that Governor Yahaya Bello pay him N2 billion for allegedly grossly violating his fundamental human rights.
The plaintiff claimed in a 27-paragraph affidavit that he personally testified to in support of the originating summons that the Kogi State Governor’s operatives had reportedly besieged his Abuja home ever since he started to take the lead in the race for governor of the state.
He asserted that because his objections and protests to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had been unsuccessful, he had decided to ask the court to protect his life and property.
Remember that the same court had, on July 13, ordered security organisations nationwide to offer the highest level of protection for Murtala Ajaka, another Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate for governor in the November election in Kogi State, in response to similar concerns of threat to life.
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