Justice Yellim Bogoro of a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday awarded cost in the sum of N50,000.00 against the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in a legal battle initiated by a businessman, Igwe Dennis Nwaokpara, alleging extraordinary rendition from Kenya and a five-year illegal seizure of his international passport.
The court specifically directed the NIS to pay the sum to the applicant for foisting an adjournment on the court, as a result of its unpreparedness to commence the defence of Nwaokpara’s N12bn damages application.
Justice Bogoro arrived at the decision after entertaining arguments from Nwaokpara’s counsel, Ademola Owolabi, and the NIS’ lawyer, N.M. Gbadamosi.
Nwaokpara, who is a retired naval personnel, is praying for the judge to compel the NIS to pay him N12bn as damages for its role in his alleged illegal removal from Kenya and to release his International passport.
The retired naval personnel had made an allegation that the Kenyan Immigration Service returned him to Nigeria hours after he arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, following a request by the NIS.
Nwaokpara, in his fundamental rights application designated FHC/L/ C3/895/2022, told the court that the incident took place on June 10, 2017.
The naval personnel further claimed that he was detained and handed over by the NIS to the Police Special Fraud Unit, adding that there was no court proceeding before the “extraordinary rendition”.
While adding that despite his detention for months, the police established no allegation against him, following which he was released, he insisted that upon his release from SFU custody, the NIS refused to return his passport.
According to him, his extraordinary rendition/arrest and/or detention and confiscation of his passport were unlawful.
When proceedings commenced on the matter, Owolabi told Justice Bogoro that the case was for hearing, adding that the NIS was served the Motion on Notice in June and Hearing Notice, which were duly acknowledged.
He then prayed to the court for leave to move his application.
In responding, Gbadamosi posited that he had just heard of the case for the first time, adding that he was not with the case file and thus could not go on.
Gbadamosi then begged the court for an adjournment. According to him, “In the interest of justice, we pray the court for a very short adjournment to enable us to put our house in order.”
But opposing the application, Owolabi said, “We served them in June and got Hearing Notice this month. They cannot be holding both ends of the stick. We urge the court to discountenance their argument and grant that we move our application. They are holding his passport and his right to travel has been abridged. It favours them to say they have just been informed.
“Should the court be mindful of granting an adjournment, we pray for an order that the applicant’s passport is deposited with the court’s registrar, pending the hearing of the application. We are also asking for a cost of N150,000.
“We have been asking them for the passport since 2017, we pray the court to strike a balance by asking for it to be deposited in the court’s registry. The facts are clear; he was illegally renditioned from Kenya.
“Even the Nnamdi Kanu case is better because there is no judicial precedent for this (applicant’s matter). It is a case of gross impunity and abuse of power, the type that did not happen even in colonial times. The applicant’s family and business are in Kenya. He was brought back in a humiliating manner and can’t go back.”
Justice Bogoro awarded N50,000 cost against the NIS. The judge declined to make any order as to the passport and adjourned until December 15 for hearing of the plaintiff’s application.
The retired naval officer is asking the judge for nine reliefs, including a declaration that his arrest in Kenya and refusal to produce him before a Kenyan court for extradition were unlawful.
He is also seeking a declaration that his alleged “deportation/extraordinary rendition” was illegal, adding that the confiscation of his international passport Ao6128442 since June 13, 2017, was unlawful, and unconstitutional.
He further prayed, among others, for an order directing the NIS to “forthwith” release his International Passport as well as an order directing the NIS to write to the Kenyan Immigration Service that he is neither a criminal nor was being investigated by the Federal Government (FG).
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