Lawyer sues FG for deploying military in Okrika, P'Harcourt

A SUIT against the Federal Government and service chiefs, challenging the continual deployment of the Joint Task Force in Okrika and Port Harcourt was yesterday filed at a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The suit, which has the Attorney General of the Federation, the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Air Staff as respondents, was brought in pursuant to Section 46 of the constitution and Section 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

The plaintiff, a legal practitioner of Okrika extraction, Mr. Idaye Chris Opi, is seeking a declaration that the respondents, either by themselves or their representatives, cannot forcefully occupy Okrika or the city of Port Harcourt except in accordance with due process.

Opi, in his 14 paragraph affidavit in support of the application, stated that sometimes in 2005, the respondents unlawfully drafted military personnel to Rivers State and other parts of the Niger Delta, especially in Okrika and Port Harcourt.

He pointed out that due to the presence of the military in the past four years in Okrika, he has suffered some loss in business and personally deprived of his right to freedom of movement, respect to the dignity of his person and freedom of association.

The plaintiff recalled that sometimes in 2006, he had to bury his father under very excruciating circumstances as he had to plead with the Joint Task Force several times before he finally got their approval to intern the remains of his late father.

"I am psychologically traumatised under the circumstances because I know Nigeria is not at war and by my training as a lawyer, I am aware this military occupation is not backed by any law under the 1999 Constitution or any other law reasonably justifiable in a democratic society," Opi said.

He stated that the Joint Task Force has imposed curfew, severally restricted movement of people, goods and services and at several occasions forced residents of Port Harcourt and Okrika to undergo one form of corporal punishment or the other.

He declared that the respondents' main interest for deploying the military in Okrika and other parts of the Niger Delta is for the purposes of exploration of crude oil and gas.

"I know that due to this desire to explore and prospect for oil, the respondents will stop at nothing to achieve their desire, even if the same leads to the ongoing illegal and unlawful military occupation of Okrika and the city of Port Harcourt," he said.

To this end, the plaintiff is seeking an order of mandatory and perpetual injunction directing the respondents to discontinue forthwith the deployment of the military in Okrika and Port Harcourt.

He also wants N50 million as damages against the respondents jointly, due to the occupation of Okrika and Port Harcourt.