A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has granted a perpetual injunction restraining the Nigerian Police from further inviting the Paramount Ruler of Rumuobiakani community in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, Eze Samuel Ejims, in connection with the conduct of the community’s youth council election held in December 2024.
The court’s decision followed a suit filed by Eze Ejims after receiving two separate police invitations regarding the youth election, which he and his council of chiefs said was conducted in strict compliance with a previous court order.
In his ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Stephen Jumbo, declared that the police’s continued invitations to the monarch were illegal and constituted a violation of his fundamental human rights. He held that the matter in question, the conduct of a youth congress election, was a civil issue, and not one that warranted police interference.
Justice Jumbo further issued a perpetual injunction restraining the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Area Commander covering Rumuobiakani, and the Nigerian Police either directly or through their agents from further summoning or harassing Eze Ejims over the said election.
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The judge granted all the reliefs sought by the applicant but declined to award any costs in the matter.
Our correspondent reports that none of the four respondents, including the Commissioner of Police, the ACP in charge of the State CID, the Area Command, and the Nigerian Police, filed any defence or appeared in court for the hearing, despite being duly served with the originating summons.
The judgment is seen as a significant affirmation of traditional authority and a reminder of the limits of police intervention in civil community matters.
