The Nation Newspaper

Tag: sue

  • Nigerian farmers cleared to sue Shell in Dutch court

    A Dutch appeals court ruled yesterday that Royal Dutch Shell may be held liable for oil spills at its subsidiary in Nigeria, potentially opening the way for other compensation claims against multinationals in the Niger Delta and elsewhere.

    The ruling was hailed by rights groups as a victory for victims of environmental pollution worldwide, while Shell said it was disappointed.

    Judges in The Hague ordered Shell to make available to the court documents that might cast light on the cause of the spills and whether leading managers were aware of them.

    A lower Dutch court in 2013 had found that Shell’s Dutch-based parent company could not be held liable for leakages of oil at its Nigerian subsidiary.

    The legal dispute dates back to 2008 when four Nigerian farmers and campaign group Friends of the Earth filed suit against the oil company in the Netherlands, where its global headquarters is based.

    “Shell can be taken to court in the Netherlands for the effects of the oil spills,” the court said yesterday.

    ”Shell is also ordered to provide access to documents that could shed more light on the cause of the leaks.”

    The court still has to decide if Royal Dutch Shell is in fact responsible for the spills. The court will continue to hear the case in March 2016.

    Judge Hans van der Klooster said the court had also found that it “has jurisdiction in the case against Shell and its subsidiary in Nigeria”.

    Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), said in a statement: “We are disappointed the Dutch court has determined it should assume international jurisdiction over SPDC.”

    “We believe allegations concerning Nigerian plaintiffs in dispute with a Nigerian company, over issues which took place within Nigeria, should be heard in Nigeria,” it said.

    Shell has always blamed the leakages on sabotage which under Nigerian law would mean it is not liable to pay compensation. But the Dutch court said yesterday: “It is too early to assume that the leaks were caused by sabotage.”

  • Ex-PHCN workers sue BEDC for unpaid allowances

    Ex-PHCN workers sue BEDC for unpaid allowances

    Disengaged workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have sued the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) for unpaid severance allowance.

    Joined in the suit were PHCN, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the National Electricity Liability ManagementCompany (NELMCO).

    The workers, who were mainly contract staff, were sacked two years ago.

    They said they were wrongly disengaged in 2013 without due process, claiming that the process was unjust.

    At the Industrial Court, Akure, the Ondo State capital, the sacked workers carried placards with various inscriptions.

    Their counsel, Ifedayo Olanipekun, said the workers were verbally dismissed.

    An aggrieved ex-worker, Tunde Bada, said they were laid off verbally without any accompanying letter.

    He said the management assured them that government would pay them.

    Justice N.A Ubaka adjourned the case till February 16.

  • Sylva may sue APC for Bayelsa primary

    Sylva may sue APC for Bayelsa primary

    A former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva may sue the All Progressives Congress (APC), if the party insists on cancelling last Tuesday’s controversial primary held in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Following reports of violence, intimidation and harassment, which marred the primary, the party, through its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, cancelled it.

    APC said a new date would be fixed to conduct another primary.

    But Sylva said he remained the party’s candidate for the December 5 governorship election.

    In a statement by his campaign orgsnisation’s spokesman, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, the former governor described as misleading and untrue reports that APC’s September 22 primary was cancelled or rescheduled.

    The statement said Sylva won the primary, adding that it was conducted in accordance with the party’s rules and guidelines set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The statement said: “We want to state categorically that since the primary was conducted according to the rules and duly won by Sylva, he remains the candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State; any statement to the contrary is a mere rumour.

    “The National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, does not have the powers to unilaterally annul a state primary. We are even shocked that he allowed his name to be used when he has not even received the report from members of the electoral panel.”

    But there were reports that the party’s leadership had fixed next Tuesday as a new date for a fresh primary.

    It was gathered that the Chairman of the Electoral Panel and Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole had threatened to step down but was prevailed upon by the party’s leadership to conclude the primary.

    Oshiomhole would be joined by two other governors to conduct the fresh primary.

    Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and another governor from the Southwest were reportedly being considered to participate in the primary.

    But it was learnt that Sylva might go to court, if the party conducted a fresh primary.

    The Timipre Sylva Campaign Organisation dismissed the report that another primary would be conducted tomorrow.

    The organisation, in a statement by Buokoribo, said that there was no way a fresh primary could be organised on Tuesday.

    Buokoribo said any attempt to hold a fresh primary would amount to an act of “illegality”.

    He said: “Let us restate here that an APC candidate for the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State has emerged and that candidate is Chief Timipre Sylva. No amount of media manipulation can change that. This is a society of law and order.

    “The latest disinformation through the media goes to show the level of desperation of some people who want the APC governorship ticket through the back door. An election was conducted, Sylva won, the whole world has seen it.

    “Besides, there is no way a hopelessly compromised Oshiomhole, who has also openly displayed his bias, can be asked again to conduct an election in Bayelsa State. Even his masters know that will be unacceptable to Nigerians.

    “Similarly, as at Saturday, September 26, Tambuwal was in far away New York attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) while (Ogun State Governor Ibikunle) Amosun is attending Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Are they going to conduct a virtual election?

    “Despite the orchestrated lies and disinformation, the Sylva Campaign will again urge our teeming supporters to be law-abiding, peaceful but resolute. Victory is sure.”

  • Tinubu threatens to sue AIT over defamatory documentary

    Tinubu threatens to sue AIT over defamatory documentary

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has threatened to sue the management of Daar Communications Limited, owners of the Africa Independent Television (AIT) for the defamatory content of a documentary aired on Sunday.

    His counsel Mr. Tunji Abayomi has, through a letter delivered to Daar Communications yesterday afternoon, asked the organisation to apologise for the content and stop its airing.

    The letter reads in part: “…You aired an hour-long documentary focussing on our client (Bola Tinubu). Clearly pre-occupied with political resentment and hatred neither warranted, necessary, proper, or justified, you published several false allegations against our client… More

    disturbing is your misrepresentation that the said documentary was “sponsored” without disclosing the

    “sponsors”. You cannot under law hide under media freedom to maliciously injure a citizen’s reputation”.

    The letter also demanded N20 billion as cost of damage done to the reputation of Asiwaju Tinubu, failing which the client will sue the company.

    “To affirm the right of our client against your defamatory publication, we demand that you confirm to us within 24 hours of receipt of this letter, an apology and retraction of the said publication/documentary,” the letter added.

  • Voters sue INEC

    Voters sue INEC

    Registered voters in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State have sued the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) for its insistence on the use of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    They prayed to be allowed to use the Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs), as they were unable to get the PVCs.

    In a suit filed on behalf of the voters by Mr. Chinedu Nmezu in the Federal High Court, Owerri, the electorate, among others, said it would amount to a breach of the rights of the people if the commission insisted on the use of the PVC for the elections “when it is obvious that the non-provision of the PVC is INEC’s fault.”

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate, who is from the area, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho, lamented that it was unbelievable  that he did not have the PVC.

    Ihenacho, who reacted through his media aide, Emperor Iwuala, noted that “it would have been a big embarrassment if the elections had been held earlier.”

    He said: “Owerri North is a highly-populated area with a high concentration of voters. But as I am talking, our principal does not have his PVC and so are majority of voters.”

  • Tricyclists sue Lagos police chief over detention

    Commercial tricyclists have sued the Lagos State Commissioner of Police in Lagos at the Federal High Court over the detention of two of their colleagues without charge.

    They are seeking a declaration that the detention of Semiu Alabi and Mumuni Abolaji at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti since December 19 constitutes a violation of their fundamental rights.

    They are also seeking an order mandating the respondents, including the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), and the investigating police officer, Inspector Ojugbele Bola, to release them forthwith. The plaintiffs want N10million as aggravated damages for their emotional stress and psychological trauma.

    The applicants said their arrest Branch followed a disagreement over the control of Roundabout New Road park at Ajeromi, Lagos.

    According to them, the Keke Owners Association of Nigeria (KOAN) Ajeromi Ifelodun branch leadership asked Chairman Ganiu Dauda to leave the park for Alabi and Abolaji. Following Dauda’s alleged refusal to comply, the applicants lodged a complaint with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

    “The fourth respondent (Dauda) having sensed that the park is likely to be returned to the applicants, decided to use members of the police force to harass, intimidate and molest, the applicants,” they said in a supporting affidavit.

    They said they were accused of attacking Dauda, which according to them, was an excuse to detain them for fear of losing the park to them.

    The applicants said they fear they could be eliminated in detention, praying the court to order their release.

    Justice Mohammed Yunusa fixed January 5 for the hearing of the application.

  • Customs chief sues publisher

    Customs chief sues publisher

    The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Abdullahi Dikko, has sued the publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Shipping World magazine, Asu Beks, at an Abuja Magistrates’ Court, Life Camp, Abuja, for allegedly publishing a defamatory report against him.

    In its July edition, Dikko said the magazine published a five-page article, with the headline, “Dikko’s Customs stinks” with a rider: “Presidency shops for his replacement”.

    In the report, the magazine allegedly accused Customs chief of bribery in the bid to retain at his position, despite running “a corruption-ridden NCS” and “squandering” N25 billion from a Customs dedicated account that had been dormant since 2012.

    Dikko said the publication also alleged that the anti-graft agency had compiled a long list of “sins” to send the Customs chief to prison.

    Dikko said the publication claimed that out of desperation to clean himself, he allegedly paid huge bribes to curry favour from the Presidency and the National Assembly.

    Angered by the allegations in the article, Dikko, through his lawyer, Amobi Nzelu, filed a suit pursuant to Section 143(d) and (e) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

    The Customs chief prayed the Senior Magistrates’ Court to issue a criminal summon against Beks, the magazine’s Managing Editor Sylvanus Ekpo and Editor Chukwunonso Udeh for alleged defamation and misrepresentation of facts.

    He claimed that the article jointly authored and published by the accused persons concerning him were false, malicious, baseless, as well as highly libelous and a calculated attempt to destroy his hard earned reputation and professional career without justification.

  • Okada riders sue Lagos for N1b over ‘illegal’ arrest

    Operators of commercial  motorcycle, popularly called  okada, have sued  the Lagos State Government for N1 billion at a Federal High Court.

    They filed a fundamental human rights suit last week against the state  claiming the amount as damages for alleged illegal arrests, detention of their members,  illegal confiscation and forfeiture of their motorcycles without due process.

    The operators, under the aegis of All Nigerians Automobile Commercial Owners and Workers Association (ANACOWA), through their counsel, Wakeel Liadi,  are praying the court to declare among others, “that the arrest and detention of okada riders on unprohibited routes is illegal, unlawful and a gross violation of their fundamental rights”.

    They are also seeking a declaration that the Task Force cannot arrest, detain and seize their motorcycles being vehicles not abandoned on the streets.

    Joined in the suit, no FHC/L/ CS/ 756/2014, is the Attorney-General of Lagos State, Chairman of Lagos Task Force, Commissioner of Police, Attorney-General of Federation and the National Assembly of Nigeria.

    In the supporting affidavit, the riders claimed that the state government has infringed on their fundamental rights.

    They listed such rights to include right to freedom of movement, dignity of human person, personal liberty, right to own movable properties, right to defence and right to receive information.

    Not challenging the legality or otherwise of the state Road Traffic Law 2012, the okada riders claim that the Task Force has made it a routine in arresting them on streets and routes not prohibited by law.

    They also claimed that over 7,000 okada seized have been impounded and forfeited to the state without first obtaining court orders to do so.

    According to them, the state government cannot be a judge in its own case.

    No date has been fixed for the hearing.

  • Sultan, Awujale, governors sue for peace

    Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun); the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar and the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, have prayed to God to expose the sponsors of Boko Haram.

    They spoke yesterday at the opening of the biggest mosque in the Southwest – the Aiyepe Central Mosque at Ijebu-Aiyepe in Ogun State.

    The Sultan said Nigerians have an history of peaceful co-existence, irrespective of tribe and religion.

    He said Islam is a religion of peace and not violence, adding: “It is important to respect another person’s religion; you do not decide who is right or wrong. That should be left for Allah.”

    Oba Adetona, who chaired the event, lamented the incessant killings by insurgents.

    He prayed to Allah to bring an end to their evil actions and lead them to the right path.

    Oba Adetona said: “There is no house or family in the Southwest where you do not have Muslims and Christians and we live in peace. We do not discriminate because we are brothers.”

    Amosun said the gathering, which had non-Muslims in attendance, demonstrated the peaceful co-existence among people of different faiths.

    He warned the insurgents to stop the killings or face the wrath of Allah.

    Aregbesola urged Nigerians to be united and peaceful.

    Aiyepe Muslim Community Chairman Alhaji Musibau Oyefeso condemned the Nyanya bombing and the abduction of pupils in school, saying: “The phenomena has no semblance to the teachings of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace. It teaches respect for life and peaceful co-existence among people of various races, tribes and religions.”

  • Monetisation Policy: Coal retirees sue BPE, NCP

    Monetisation Policy: Coal retirees sue BPE, NCP

    Disengaged workers and pensioners of defunct Nigerian Coal Corporation (NCC) have sued the Bureau of Public Enterprise(BPE), Vice Chairman of National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and the NCC itself before an Industrial Court in Enugu for breach of the 2003 Monetisation Policy agreement of the Federal Government.

    The retirees in a complaint suit No: NICN/EN/07/2014 filed through their counsel, Sir O.A.U. Onyema, argued that it was wrong for the BPE to sell their residential quarters against the Federal Government’s policy on sales of government quarters, which stipulates that genuine workers/occupiers should have first choice of refusal.

    They noted that the non-offer of the third defendant’s houses to the disengaged workers and retirees of the third defendant (NCC) at monetised prices, since monetisation policy of 2003, up till this moment; and as earlier directed by the defendants in 2007 and subsequently 2009, is a perversion of justice.

    The retirees are, therefore, asking the court for : “a declaration that the claimants are entitled to the conveyance of title ownership of residential quarters which they legitimately occupy in accordance with the monetisation policy and privatisation labour policy with regards to disposal of government residential quarters”.

    “A declaration that continuous carving-out and delineating of some portions of the NCC properties and disposing same to the public, without concurrently allocating the residential quarters to the claimants (disengaged staffs and retirees) who occupy them for them to pay and own in line with monetisation, commercialisation and privatisation policy, amounts to double standard and portends an action in bad faith.”

    They also prayed the court to declare that any direct or indirect action, occasioned to encourage displacement of any of the claimants from his or her residential quarters, and renting or allocating same to the public, as to occasion denying him or her the benefit of the monetisation policy is illegal and of no effect.

    Other prayers include: “An order of the court directing the defendants to restore the accommodation of any claimant ejected forcefully, while he/she was awaiting severance benefit, gratuity etc; and monetise same to him/her.

    “An order of the court directing the defendant to forthwith, delineate the residential quarters as they are, Survey, allocate to the claimants and perfect their title documents in line with monetization policy at government rate, as earlier formulated by the defendants.