ENUGU — AN Enugu High Court yesterday ordered operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) to refrain from further harassment or intimidation of the ex-Biafran leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu pending determination of his suit against the agency now before it.
Ojukwu had gone to the court in the heat of his face-off with the SSS over his refusal to honour a verbal invitation to Abuja by the SSS and secured an order for the enforcement of his fundamental rights against the agency and Federal Government. When the case came up yesterday, the presiding judge, Justice Elvis Ahanonu, worried by the report of the seizure of Ojukwu’s passport by operatives of the agency in Lagos, Tuesday night, directed the agency to refrain from such act or face the contempt of the court.
“Counsel, this is a serious breach of the law and I urge you to verify it and advise your client to refrain from further harassment or intimidation of the plaintiff pending the determination of the matter otherwise, its continuation will be interpreted or deemed as a contempt of the court against your client,” Ahanonu told counsel to SSS, Prof. Peter Osipitan, SAN after hearing the complaint made by Ojukwu’s counsel, Mr. Emeka Onyemelukwe, SAN on the development.
Onyemelukwe had sought approval of the court for an undertaking from the SSS counsel to forestall further harassment of his client by the operatives, pending outcome of the suit before the court based on the reported incident, Tuesday night at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos that disrupted Ojukwu’s medical trip overseas.
Said he: “Before we take this adjournment date my lord, I will like to appeal that my learned colleague make or enter an undertaking on behalf of his client to stop further reckless harassment of my client. I had a telephone call last night that my client is seriously ill and had gone to the Lagos Airport where he is supposed to board a flight overseas to obtain medi-care. But SSS operatives seized his passport only to return it when the flight had left, thus disrupting his journey. This is against the order of this court, my lord and amounts to intimidation. I therefore seek an undertaking from him before we could adjourn.”
