By Uchendu Ejiowhor
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Eze Godspower Onuekwa and other members of the Omu-Ogboh Royal Family in Emohua Kingdom against the Paramount Ruler of Emohua Kingdom, His Royal Majesty King Sergeant Chidi-Awuse, the Nigeria Police Force, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, and the Attorney General of Rivers State.
The applicants had sought more than nine reliefs, including declarations and injunctions restraining King Chidi-Awuse and the police from allegedly disrupting their traditional gatherings, relocating their market, and interfering with their farmlands.
In his judgment, Justice Stephen Jumbo held that the applicants failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that their fundamental rights had been violated by the actions of the monarch or the police. The judge noted that the applicants focused largely on the history of the traditional stool of the Emohua Kingdom rather than presenting evidence of rights violations.
The court further ruled that the suit constituted an abuse of court process, citing the ongoing criminal proceedings before a Magistrate Court involving some of the applicants.
Justice Jumbo also struck out the name of the Rivers State Attorney General from the suit, describing the inclusion as unnecessary. He awarded ₦2 million in costs in favour of King Sergeant Chidi-Awuse and the Nigeria Police Force.
