A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Sen. Dino Melaye and Sen. Ben Murray-Bruce seeking to enforce their fundamental human right for lack of merit.
The presiding judge, Justice Okon Abang who dismissed the suit ordered the trio to pay N50, 000 damages to the police even as he ordered them to honour the Police invitation of Oct. 5, 2018 over the protest staged by some members of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
Justice Abang gave the order on Thursday while delivering judgment in the suit filed by the three lawmakers who alleged intimidation, harassment and threat by the police.
He ruled that though the applicants were not on trial, where there were allegations against them, they had an obligation to report to the police upon been invited saying that the court could not restrain the police from discharging its duties as long as it was done within the confines of the law.
The judge said: “It is my view that the police invitation to the applicants is still valid and subsisting; the applicants shall respond or report to the police invitation without fail.
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“It is how the police treat them upon their having honoured the application that would determine whether their fundamental rights was violated not before they honour the invitation.”
Recall that the trio had filed an application asking the court to nullify the Oct. 6 and 8, 2018 letters of invitation to them by the Police.
They claimed that the Police invitation was an attempt to harass, intimidate and unlawfully detain them.
The senators also asked the court to declare that the act of dispersing their procession with tear gas was a violation of their fundamental rights, and asked the court to award N500 million to them as damages.
The three senators were part of the PDP leaders who led a protest on Oct. 5, 2018 asking the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct free and fair elections.
The protest followed the Osun governorship election in which the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was declared winner.
