Mr Yisa Usman, a former Deputy Director in Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has filed a N12.5 million fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; Mabel Ishaku and others.
Usman, in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1518/2024 and filed by his lawyer, Oseini Bamigbaiye, sued I-G; AIG Zone 7; DCP Kabiru Shehu and Mabel Ishaku, also a police officer, as 1st to 4th defendants respectively.
The applicant, who was dismissed from the employment of JAMB, is currently contending his disengagement at the National Industrial Court in suit number: NICN/ABJ/266/2023.
In the originating motion dated Oct. 14 and filed Oct. 15 at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Usman sought six reliefs.
He prayed the court to declare that the statements made by him in his letter dated June 6, 2022, and addressed to the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, in paragraph 2 of page 15 was within his rights of expression and opinion .
This, he said, is guaranteed under Section 39 of the constitution, and within his right under the Freedom of Information Act.
He sought a declaration that the statements he made in his letter to Oloyede in respect of Ishaku, “being the exact narrative of what actually happened, is true and is therefore not defamatory, not injurious falsehood and therefore not criminal.”
He also sought a declaration that the statements he made in the letter, not being criminal in any way, is purely personal to Ishaku and purely a civil matter and not for the intervention of the 1st to 3rd respondents.
Usman, therefore, sought an order, restraining the respondents, either by themselves or through their agents, from inviting, arresting, detaining, harassing, embarrassing, intimidating, hunting or further infringing on any of his fundamental rights.
He sought an order awarding damages in the sum of N10 million against the 4th respondent (Ishaku), for deliberately and wickedly setting up, instigating and sponsoring an unlawful and illegal machinery for the unwarranted infringement of his fundamental rights guaranteed under the 1999 (as amended).
He said the act had caused untold hardship, emotional and psychological trauma, reputational damages restriction to his personal liberty and that of his elder brother and demeaning embarrassments to their human dignity .
The ex-director sought an order awarding the sum of N2.5 million as the cost of instituting and prosecuting the suit.
In his 12-ground argument, Usman averred that when he was in the employment of JAMB as deputy director, he wrote a letter on June 6, 2022, addressed to JAMB registrar in which he complained about some infractions in the management of the board.
He said in paragraph of page 15 of the letter, he narrated an happening involving Ishaku (4th defendant).
He said Ishaku wrote a petition against him to the office of the I-G, complaining that the statements made by him in the said letter as it relates to her was defamatory and injuriously false.
He said she then demanded an apology and compensation in the sum of N5 million or be prosecuted.
He said the DCP Shehu, on behalf of the AIG Zone 7, wrote a letter dated April 19, 2023 to his (Usman’s) employer requesting for his release to honour their invitation to answer to an allegation of defamation of character and injurious falsehood in which he featured prominently.
Usman said he honoured the invitation and was interviewed.
According to him, he was compelled to write a statement in the absence of his lawyer, and was only lucky to have been granted bail after fulfilling the bail condition.
He said he attended several other invitations at the instance of Shehu and Ishaku before the matter fizzled out, until he was recently asked to appear on a Friday for further interrogation.
“The applicant was dismissed by the management of JAMB and the issue of the alleged defamatory statement and injurious falsehood alleged by the 4th respondent was one of the queries that form the basis of his dismissal.
“The applicant is also facing criminal charges at the Federal High Court, Abuja and one of the charges is that he wrote frivolous petitions against the registrar of JAMB,” he alleged.
Usman averred that the 1st to 4th respondents had now decided to use their power to resuscitate Ishaku’s petition against him, and hereby inviting him over to their office for further interrogations claiming that the case was never closed and that a new man on the saddle had decided to reopen the case.
“That the 1st to 4th respondents will use their powers and office to embarrass, harass, intimidate and frustrate the applicant from prosecuting his action in suit at the National Industrial Court in suit no. NICN.ABJ/266/2023 challenging his dismissal from the employment of the Board,” he alleged.
He said his statements in June 6, 2022 letter which were alleged to be defamatory and injurious falsehood were narrations of truth and events that actually happened and that no one had denied them.
He said the statement was expressed in the exercise of his fundamental human right of freedom of speech , freedom of opinion guaranteed under the constitution, the exercise of his rights and performance of his duties as a deputy director in the agency, and under the Freedom of Information Act.
The suit is yet to be assigned to a judge.
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