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Suit Against Proliferation Of Roadblocks In South-East Suffers Setback

Published

2 years ago

January 21, 2024

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed a suit filed by former Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association, Section on Public Interest and Development Law, NBA-SPIDEL, Dr Monday Ubani seeking to stop the army, police and other security agencies from proliferating the Lagos- Southeast routes with roadblocks.

Ubani had dragged the Attorney-General of the Federation, Inspector-General of Police, Comptroller General of Customs, Chief of Defence Staff, Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corp before the court seeking a declaration that the proliferation of intra-state and highways with road blocks mounted by their officers particularly enroute Lagos to South-eastern part of Nigeria which result in obstruction of free movement in the highway and loss of travel time is a violation of his right to free and undisrupted movement as guaranteed by section 41 of the 1999 Constitution and other enabling laws.

Also joined in the suit as co-respondents are; the Police Force, Nigeria Customs Service Board, Nigerian Army and Federal Road Safety Commission.

Other prayers by Ubani include a declaration that the proliferation of intra-state and highway roadblocks particularly enroute Lagos to South Eastern part of Nigeria, obstructs free flow of traffic, constitute nuisance, causes untold hardship and unwarranted suffering to him and other road users and therefore unlawful and without legal justification.

He also prayed for an order directing the respondents forthwith to dismantle all roadblocks on all intra-state roads and highways throughout the country and particularly along the South-East roads.

Ubani also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents, their privies, agents and representatives from mounting intra-state and highway roadblocks on Lagos enroute South Eastern roads.

On his ground for seeking the injunctions, Ubani narrated an incident in 2021 when he travelled from Lagos to his home town in Abia state with his family by road and spent about 15 hours along the road due to over 120 roadblocks mounted by officers of the respondents who also subjected other roads users to untold hardship, extortion intimidation and harassments.

In their separate responses to the suit, the Police, Army, Customs and Road Safety Corp admitted mounting roadblocks along the Lagos to South-Eastern route but insisted that they were empowered by enabling laws to do so as part of their responsibilities to secure the country and check crime.

They also insisted that the right of freedom of movement as enshrined in the 1999 constitution is not absolute and maintained that the proliferation of roadblocks along the South-Eastern roads did not in any way infringe on the right of the applicant.

Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke held that from evidence before him, it was obvious that indeed there were proliferation of roadblocks along the Lagos-South Eastern road which made the applicant and other users to spend hours on the road.

The court further held that the right to free movement of the applicant was indeed derogated upon due to the powers of the constitution given to the President and the security agencies to map out security measures to secure the country.

However the court failed to address the issue raised by Ubani on why the security measures said to be securing the country are only meant for roads leading to the Eastern region and minimal on other routes in the country.

The judgment reads in part: “All the 2nd to 9th Respondents when they are on the Nigerian Roads, whether intrastate roads, interstate roads or Highways are there to prevent crime. They provide internal security which is the main function of the 3rd Respondent. They therefore perform police duties. In fact, the 4th and 5th Respondents were statutorily given the powers of the Police when carrying out their functions. These Police powers especially to stop, search, arrest and prosecute any person committing an offence was also given to the Respondent.

“There is no way the 9th Respondent can perform its duties without stopping and sometimes searching vehicles. I therefore hold that the road blocks mounted by the 2nd to 9th Respondents which clearly restrict the right to freedom of movement of the Applicant and other road users does not by that reason alone violate the Applicant’s fundamental rights.

“This does not mean that any illegal act committed by the 2nd to 9th Respondents while on the intra-state roads and highways, whether they mounted road blocks or not, cannot be investigated and prosecuted in the law courts according to the laws of Nigeria.

“It is for the reasons given above that I hereby dismiss the application for the enforcement of fundamental rights brought by the Applicant.”

Reacting to the judgement, Ubani said he would appeal the judgement or go back to the court with modification of his reliefs as he believes that the reason for the unnecessary proliferation of the road blocks on the Eastern route is not for security measures.

He maintained that it has become obvious by evidence on ground that that the proliferation of the road blocks is purely and simply for extortion and inconvenience purposes.

News

Imansuangbon Donates To Benin IDPs, Charges Wealthy Nigerians To Advance Humanity

Published

1 minute ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

Politician and philanthropist, Barr. Kenneth Imansuangbon on Wednesday charged political office holders and well-to-do Nigerians to use their position and wealth to advance humanity.

Imansuangbon gave the charge when he visited Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)housed by Home for the Needy Foundation, Benin, where he donated food items, drinks, cash, toiletries, etc to the children and women as part of his Christmas gifts to them.

Recall that last month the IDPs lamented hardship caused by the economic situation of the country, saying due to the economic hardship, a single meal where they used to cook 15 bags of rice has been reduced to 5.

Rising to the occasion, the philanthropist said his love for humanity and in accordance with the teaching of the Holy Book drove him to give to the needy annually, adding that he has been doing it for the past 20 years.

Imansuangbon, who expressed displeasure over the current happenings in the country, said: “If the country is really working we will not find ourselves in this kind of situation. This is an embarrassment to the giant of Africa.”

“If we teach ourselves love and humanity, then the country will be safer and better for everyone

“We are just a tool in the hand of God Almighty. Anywhere God has placed you, use it to advance humanity. You are in government? Get it at the back of your mind that you are not the first person to occupy the position, and you are not going to be the last.

“The way our country is today, I am not satisfied, this goes beyond Mr. President or the Senators, it is about realising that We all need to save our country. If the country is really working, we will not find ourselves in this kind of situation. This is an embarrassment to the giant of Africa.”

Imansuangbon, who is the proprietor of Pacesetter School, Abuja, expressed gratitude to students, staff members and parents of the school, saying the donations were from them.

“I’m here in Benin with the half of their donation. The children donated ₦1.5m cash, and I am here with the money. You can see these 70 bags of rice, 100 bags of noodles, bags of cane drinks, water, toiletry, etc, are from them. I am grateful to them for doing this for the past 20 years.”

He, therefore, appealed to Governor Monday Okpehbolo to extend the hand of fellowship to the IDPs particularly on Christmas day.

Responding, coordinator of the camp, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, while appreciating the donor, said: “He does this regularly not because he is a politician but because of his love for humanity. He is one of the few that comes here anytime, not an electioneering period alone, but anytime we are in need. He has been showing his love for the children for years, so I thank him.”

Folorunsho used the occasion to appeal to well-to-do Nigerians to come and assist the IDPs, stressing that until Imansuangbon came they (IDPs) had nothing to “eat for today.”

News

27-year-old Man Dies Inside Deep Well In Ogbomoso

Published

15 hours ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

The corpse of a 27-year-old man identified as Alagbe Gbemisoye has been recovered from a deep well at Ire-Akari, Adeniran area of Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

His body was retrieved by officials of the Oyo State Fire Service after passersby alerted them to the incident.

The circumstances that led to the deceased falling into the well were still unclear as of the time of filing this report.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Fire Reforms and Chairman, Fire Services, Moroof Akinwande, said his men were alerted by a running caller and Mr Ajayi Olayemi.

“Fire personnel led by CFM Oladejo promptly deployed to the scene. On arrival, it was discovered that a man of about 27 years old, named Alagbe Gbemisoye, had fallen into a deep well. His body was recovered and handed over to the DPO, Owode Police Station,” he said.

Akinwande urged the public to always observe safety precautions in their daily activities and emphasised the importance of having fire extinguishers in their homes to prevent fire incidents.

News

Bauchi Records 75 Homicide Cases, 28 Kidnapping Cases, Others – Official

Published

16 hours ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

The Bauchi state Ministry of Justice says it recorded nothing less than 75 homicide cases, 28 kidnapping cases and 86 cases of rape in the 2024-2025 legal year.

Barr. Hassan Usman (SAN), the Bauchi state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, stated this in Bauchi on Tuesday during the commencement of the 2025-2026 legal year ceremony.

“In criminal cases from January to date, we received a total of 91 robbery cases, as against last year which was 83 and we received 75 homicide cases.

“We were served with motions for bails and other motions totalling about 256 and we received about 86 rape cases and 28 kidnapping cases.

“In total, we received a total number of 592 criminal cases and out of this number, 97 have been disposed of, 15 were discharged through legal advice, 454 are pending,” said the Commissioner.

According to him, given the high volume of cases recorded, the Ministry developed strategies to fast-track prosecutions in line with the administration of criminal justice law that emphasised speedy trials by setting timelines of filing charges in court and proceeding.

While explaining that Gov. Bala Mohammed approved the release of N7.8 million for the purchase of law and other practice books for their library, Usman added that Mohammed also approved the release of monthly funds to settle all outstanding judgement debts owed by the state government.

He appreciated the governor for his benevolence, unwavering commitment and exceptional support for the Ministry of Justice in the state.

Earlier speaking, Justice Rabi Umar, the State’s Chief Judge, lamented the recurrent practice of arraigning suspects in court without proper preliminary investigations.

She added that in many cases, efforts to gather evidence were only initiated after the trial had begun.

“This backward approach to criminal prosecution significantly delays the process and undermines the delivery of justice.

“It is unacceptable that in 2025, we continue to see such practices, which contributed to the overwhelming backlog of cases in our courts and ultimately eroded public confidence in the Justice System.

“To resolve this and other identified lapses, a Committee was set up to review the Bauchi state Administration of Criminal Justice Law and come up with a Draft Law that will stand the test of time,” she said.

She however, affirmed that any lawyer that didn’t adhere to the prescribed dress code for legal practitioners in the state would not be permitted to appear in court, adding that such a disregard for professional decorum undermined the prestige and global respect that the legal profession commands.

In his speech, governor Mohammed said that the three arms of government in the state had been working harmoniously and in synergy without compromising their constitutional autonomy.

Represented by his deputy, Alh. Auwal Jatau, Mohammed said that he has been giving the two other arms of government the necessary support and cooperation to ensure that they all operated optimally without any hindrance.