Defendants
Court dismisses NUT’s suit against Kaduna governor over competency test
Nigeria Union of Teachers The Kaduna Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria has dismissed the case between the Nigerian Union of Teachers and Governor Nasir El Rufai for lacking in merit and substance. A statement titled, ‘Teachers sack: Court dismisses NUT’s suit against KDSG,’ issued by the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of Kaduna State, Aisha Dikko on Saturday, said that Justice S.O. Edeniyi delivered judgment on the matter on February 2. The statement which said that NUT and Comrade Audu Titus Amba were the claimants, further said that they sought nullification of the termination and compulsory retirement of those who failed the competency test for all primary school teachers. The Attorney General recalled that “in the bid to restore the competency of the te...
Court orders Ekiti university to reinstate sacked workers
File Photo The National Industrial Court in Akure has ordered the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, to reinstate 85 non-teaching staff members sacked by the institution in December 2019. The judge, Kiyersohot Damulak, also gave the university a 30-day ultimatum to pay the reinstated workers their salaries, emoluments, and allowances from the date of their unlawful disengagement till date. In the judgement delivered on January 28, a copy of which was seen by newsmen on Wednesday, the court also directed the university to pay the workers the three months salary they were being owed before they unlawfully disengaged. Damulak also ordered the university to pay each of the sacked workers N50,000 as the cost of prosecuting the case. The award totaled N4,250,000 for the 85 wo...
Court remands ‘student cultists’ for assaulting teachers
An Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ Court, on Wednesday, ordered the remand of three students of Ifeoluwa Co-Educational Grammar School in Ilesa Correctional Centre for allegedly assaulting teachers and students of the school. The defendants are: Adeniyi Timileyin, 18; Tajudeen Akinlolu, 20 and Waheed Abbas, 19, according to newsmen. The students, however, pleaded not guilty to the seven-count charge of conspiracy, assault, malicious damage, breach of peace, unlawful possession and threat to life. The Magistrate, Isola Omisade, ordered the remand of the defendants in the correctional centre due to the magnitude of the offences preferred against them. He, thereafter, adjourned the case till March, for judgment. The State Counsel, Moses Faremi, had told the court that the defendants committed the o...
Forgery: Magistrate recuses self, returns case file for reassignment
File Photo Magistrate Njideka Duru of the Magistrate court sitting in Wuse, Abuja has dissociated herself from the criminal charges instituted by Architect Adamu Stephen Okunade against an Abuja based lawyer, James Idih and Otomiewo Ufuoma. The magistrate who made the declaration in a short ruling on Tuesday said; “I am sending the file back for reassignment to avoid the possibility of being biased. This is because from the line of argument by both lawyers, it is glaring that there will be no headway. ‘’My decision to return the case file is to avoid my emotions taking a greater part of the proceedings. I therefore recuse myself from the matter,’’ Magistrate Duru held. Okunade had through his lawyer Abiodun Olukere dragged Mr Idih alongside Ufuoma before the magistrate court for allegedly ...
Appeal Court strikes out Facebook’s appeal against trademark judgment
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, Tuesday, dismissed Facebook’s appeal challenging the judgment of a Federal High Court, Lagos, which awarded N10 million against it (Facebook) in favour of a Nigerian firm, Double Paws Enterprise, as damages for unlawfully interfering with the use of the firm’s trademark. The appellate court justices that decided the matter were Justices Haruna Tsammani, Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu, and Abdullahi Bayero. Justice Bayero read the lead judgment. Facebook had appealed the lower court judgment through its counsel, Jackson Etti. However, counsel to the respondent, Double Paws Enterprise, was Mr Gideon Okebu. Facebook challenged the competence of the appeal and urged the Appeal Court to dismiss the same for being fundamentally flawed. Justice Bayero in the lea...
Police charge Lekki tollgate protesters with ‘breaching public peace, coronavirus protocol’
The police in Lagos have charged 40 protesters arrested at the Lekki tollgate on Saturday to court, for breaching public peace. The arrested protesters include, Debo Adebayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni, Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka, Damilare Adenola, Anjorin Joseph, Paul Terkuma and Anisere Sodiq. The protesters were charged at the Magistrate Court of Lagos State, Yaba. In the charge sheet obtained by newsmen, they were charged on three counts including failing to comply with the “Quarantine Law which prohibit any social gathering to avoid spreading and contacting of Coronavirus Disease”. The other charges are “breach of public peace, harassment, and causing unnecessary alarm to the public”. Newsmen earlier reported the arrest of the protesters and how they were manhandled by police officers. ...
Two men bag three years in jail for drug trafficking
A Federal High Court, sitting in Jos on Thursday, sentenced two men, Masa’udu Ishaku, 28, and Isiaka Garba, 30, to three years imprisonment each for trafficking 868 kilogrammes of Tramadol. Justice Musa Kurya sentenced the defendants after they changed their pleas to guilty for drug trafficking. Kurya held that since the defendants changed their pleas to guilty, and also pleaded for leniency, he would temper Justice with mercy. “You are hereby sentenced to three years imprisonment each, beginning from the day you were remanded in the Correctional Centre. “This sentence is to serve as a deterrent to other young people out there, who might think of engaging in such criminal act,’’ he said. Kurya, who frowned at the increased cases of young people trafficking hard drugs in the country, pledge...
Court remands man for ‘plotting’ to abduct wife
An Ilorin Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday ordered that Usman Abdulkareem, who allegedly conspired with a herbalist, friend to abduct his wife, be remanded in a correctional centre. The police charged Abdulkareem, a herbalist, Babatunde Mohammed and a friend, Fatai Adisa with two counts of criminal conspiracy and abduction, to commit culpable homicide, contrary to Section 97 and 274 of Penal Code Law. Magistrate Afusat Alege ordered that the defendants be remanded in Oke-Kura Correctional Centre, Ilorin. Alege adjourned the case until Feb.24, for further mention. The Prosecution Counsel, Sgt. Abubakar Issa, told the court that investigation conducted revealed that Abdulkareem was the one who called Mumeenat, his wife, on mobile phone and asked her to to meet him in the second defendant’ hou...
Imo North bye election: Appeal Court upholds Frank Ibezim’s disqualification as APC candidate
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Saturday, upheld the disqualification of Sir Chuwuma Ibezim as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the Senatorial by-election held in Imo North on December 5, 2020. The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel of Justices, affirmed the judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to remove Ibezim’s name from the list of candidates for the by-election, after it found him guilty of submitting falsified documents. The high court judgement followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1229/2020, which was filed against Ibezim by Asomugha Elebeke. Trial Justice Inyang Ekwo had in the judgement delivered on December 4, 2020, barely 24 hours to the by-election, ...
Court restrains Edo NUT from embarking on strike
Nigeria Union of Teachers The National Industrial Court in Benin, on Monday, restrained the Edo wing of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) from proceeding on any strike in primary schools across the state. Justice Abiola Adewemimo gave the order after listening to the arguments by the state Solicitor-General, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN). Newsmen report that the state government and the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) are the applicants in the case, with suit number: NICN/BEN/04/2021. The defendants in the suit are the NUT Chairman in the state, Mr Pius Okhuleliegbe and the state Assistant Secretary- General, Moni Itua, for themselves and on behalf of the members of the union. Delivering her ruling, Adewemimo restrained the NUT chairman and the assistant secretary-general,either acting t...
Court fixes date to hear suit seeking to oust ex-Speaker Dogara from House over defection to APC
Twitter The Federal High Court, Abuja, will, on February 4, hear a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asking for the declaration of the seat of Rep Yakubu Dogara vacate on account of his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Justice Okon Abang fixed the date on the grounds that it was not convenient for the court to take the matter. Newsmen report that while the PDP and its Bauchi State Chairman, Hamza Akuyam, are the plaintiffs, Dogara, who was the immediate-past Speaker, House of Representatives; the speaker of the House; the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF); Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC are 1st to 5th defendants respectively in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1060/2020. NAN reports that Dogara, who represents Dass, Tafawa Bal...
Trader in court for allegedly stealing colleague’s cell phone
A 45-year-old trader, Obiemeke Felix, who allegedly stole a cell phone worth N240,000 belonging to his colleague, on Thursday appeared in a Wuse Zone 6 Magistrates’ Court . The police charged Felix, who lives in Suleja, Niger State, for theft. The Prosecution Counsel, ASP Peter Ejike, of the FCT Command Abuja, told the court that Rapheal Ikechukwu of the Federal Housing Lugbe, Abuja, reported the matter at Wuse Zone 3, Police Station on Dec. 30, 2020. Ejike alleged that on Dec.29, 2020, at about 7.30p.m., the complainant plugged the phone to charge in his shop at the Intercontinental Plaza, Wuse Zone III while he attended to his customers. Ejike alleged that after a while the complainant returned to check his phone but discovered it was stolen. He alleged that the defendant stole the phone...
