Lawyer challenge ban Okada and Maruwa by Lagos State government in court
A
Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, has asked the Federal High Court
in Lagos to reverse the ban imposed by the Lagos State Government on
the operations of commercial tricycles and motorcycles, commonly known
as okada, in parts of the state.
In a suit
filed before Justice Mohammed Liman, Ogungbeje is urging the court to
declare that the execute ban on commercial tricycles and okada issued by
the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in February was not
backed by any court order and grossly violated Section 41 of the
constitution.
The lawyer contended that the ban had visited untold hardship on him and other law-abiding Nigerians living in Lagos.
He
wants the court to declare that “the forceful impounding, seizure or
confiscation of motorcycles and tricycles” by agents of the Lagos State
Government amounted to an infringement on the right of residents to own
property under sections 43 and 44 of the constitution.
He
also prayed the court to declare that the power given to agents of the
state, under the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018, to arrest
and punish violators of the ban was tantamount to an usurpation of the
functions of the judiciary “and is thus a gross infringement on the
right to fair hearing and human dignity under sections 36 and 34 of the
constitution.”
He wants the court to make a
perpetual injunction restraining the Lagos State Government from
enforcing the ban and also prayed the court to award N500m as general
and exemplary damages against the state for the alleged violation of
citizens’ rights.
Joined as defendants in the
suit are the Lagos State Government; Lagos State Task Force on
Environmental and Special Offences Unit; Lagos State Traffic Management
Authority; the state’s Attorney General; Commissioner of Police in
Lagos State; the Vehicle Inspection Service; and the Lagos State
Ministry of Transportation.
Justice Liman has adjourned hearing till September 28, 2020.
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