A Rivers State High Court has thrown out a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Eze Godspower Onuekwa and other members of the Omu-Ogboh Royal Family against the Paramount Ruler of Emohua Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, King Sergeant Chidi-Awuse, and security agencies.
The court, sitting in Port Harcourt, ruled that the suit lacked merit.
Justice Stephen Jumbo, who delivered the judgment, held that the applicants failed to provide substantive evidence showing that their fundamental rights were breached by the actions of the monarch and the police.
Instead, the applicants dwelt extensively on the history of the traditional stool of the Emohua paramount ruler, the judge noted.
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The applicants had approached the court seeking over nine reliefs, including declarations and injunctions to restrain King Chidi-Awuse from allegedly using the police to disrupt their traditional gatherings, relocate their market, and interfere with their farmlands.
Justice Jumbo further ruled that filing the fundamental rights suit amounted to an abuse of court process, given an ongoing arrest and trial of some of the applicants at the Magistrate’s Court.
The judge also struck out the name of the Attorney General of Rivers State from the suit, describing it as unnecessary.
In the judgment, the court awarded the sum of N2 million as costs in favour of King Sergeant Chidi-Awuse and the Nigerian Police Force.
