A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday awarded a fine of N2 million against the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, for refusing to comply with its order on the release of the travel documents of former Rivers Governor Peter Odili.
Judge Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling, also ordered the Federation Attorney General AGF to take disciplinary action against NIS lawyer JA Adamu for alleged unprofessional conduct.
The Nigerian News Agency reports that Judge Ekwo, on October 18, in a lawsuit filed by Odili against the NIS and its Comptroller General, ordered the immediate release and return of his international passport under number B50031305.
Ekwo had also directed the NIS to write an apology to Odili for the illegal seizure of her passport, as well as the embarrassment she suffered.
However, some 37 days after the court’s ruling, the NIS on November 23 told the court to stay the execution because it had appealed the sentence.
In a motion filed with the court, the NIS had requested the suspension of the execution of the sentence handed down.
Judge Ekwo, who later suspended the session on the condition that the NIS must present Odili’s passport to the court registrar as a condition for her motion to be heard, set a date to hear the request.
But on the postponement date, no NIS attorney appeared, and Odili’s attorney, Ifedayo Adedipe, SAN, filed an application against the NIS, urging the court to award a fine for its failure to comply with the court order.
Judge Ekwo again adjourned the matter.
At the resumption of the hearing on Tuesday, NIS was no longer represented in court.
In issuing his ruling, the judge expressed surprise that despite the motion filed by the NIS, there was no attorney in court to take it.
“This is the second time this matter has arisen after it has been said that the defendant / petitioner (NIS) must comply with the court order.
“I have given the defendant / petitioner enough time to comply with the court order,” he said.
Ekwo noted that as of the last postponement date, the NIS was not represented in court, so the matter was postponed.
“Today, the defendant / petitioner is not in court either,” he added.
He said it was apparent that the NIS was not ready to comply with the order.
He said: “Consequently, I issued an order ordering the defendant / applicant to pay a fine of N2 million in favor of the applicant / defendant (Odili)” for having him represented in court while the NIS did not send any representation.
The judge, who ordered the AGF to take disciplinary action against J. A Adamu, an attorney for NIS, for his unprofessional conduct in handling the case, ordered Adamu to appear in court on the next postponed date and prove cause by which action should not be taken against him.
Judge Ekwo suspended the session until January 22, 2022 to hear the request.
NAN
