Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of a Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday struck out a N1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by alleged billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwamadike aka Evans, against the police over the seizure of his property. In striking out the suit, the judge held that it ought to have been filed at the Lagos High Court where the applicant was currently being tried over alleged kidnapping and murder. Olatoregun further noted that the applicant failed to show evidence of the looting and force applied by the police in taking away his property. She said: “The main issue to be decided is whether the plaintiff’s claim constitutes a violation of his rights under the Fundamental Human Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules.
“However, this matter ought to have been brought before the state High Court which has jurisdiction to deal with matters of infringement of citizens’ rights. Matters that the Federal High Court is not competent to take cannot be ventilated here. “This court must be careful not to interfere with the ongoing trial of the applicant before the High Court. In the circumstance, this court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and it is hereby struck out.” Evans had filed the suit in June 2018 and joined the Inspector-General of Police (IG), the Nigeria Police and the IG’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) as co-defendants.