Court Strikes Out Bobrisky’s Fundamental Rights Suit Against EFCC
Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed a fundamental rights suit instituted against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju (a.k.a. Bobrisky), alleging a breach of his rights by the Commission and seeking N200 million damages.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Owoeye held that Bobrisky’s claims of encroachment of his rights lacked merit with no credible evidence to justify the reliefs he sought from the court.
Providing details about the case on its official Instagram handle on Friday, the EFCC said one of the reliefs sought was “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents” from harassing, declaring him wanted, arresting, or detaining him “whether by themselves, their officers, servants, agents.”
In another relief, Bobrisky prayed the court to award the sum of N200 million against the EFCC as damages he allegedly suffered from the activities of the Commission regarding his arrest and trial.
After evaluating all the reliefs he sought, Justice Owoeye ruled that “having evaluated the evidence placed before this Court by the Applicant, it is evident that the Applicant has failed to provide credible evidence to justify the award of the declaratory and injunctive reliefs sought by him.”
The judge further stated that “in the final analysis, I hold the claims of violation of fundamental rights against the 1st and 2nd respondents were not made out of the affidavit evidence placed before this Court. The claim of the Applicant against the 1st to the 2nd respondents hereby lacks merit and is liable to be dismissed. It is accordingly dismissed.”
The judge also refused to award any damage against the EFCC.
Bobrisky had dragged both the EFCC and the National Assembly before the court and all the reliefs he sought were thrown out.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
