Rewane: Acquitted suspects demand N5bn compensation from Lagos govt

JUSTICE Charles Achibong of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has fixed June 15 for the hearing of the N5 bilion suit instituted against the Lagos State government by three suspects discharged by the court, over complicity in the murder of Pa Alfred Rewane in 1995.The plaintiffs, Lucky Igbinovia, Effiong Elemu and Elvis Erenuwa, dragged the state government and the police to court and were demanding compensation for their alleged incarceration before the court set them free last year.The suspects were arrested in 1995 and charged alongside others in 1996 for alleged complicity in the killing of Pa Rewane, but were discharged by the state High Court last year, due to lack of diligent prosecution.After regaining their freedom, they approached the court, praying it to declare that 'the roles played by the government for over 15 years were oppresive, wicked, malicious and an abuse of powers and outrageous disregard of the law.'To this end, they prayed the court to award a punitive and exemplary damages of N5 billion against the police, the state government and the state Attorney-General, jointly and severally in their favour.The plaintiffs, in their action, asked for general damages of N1 billion jointly and sevarally against the defendants.They avvered that until Justice Williams of the state High Court released them from detention on January 17, 2011, 'as a result of the unlawful arrest and unsubstantiated legal advice given by the prosecution,' they were kept behind bar, despite their efforts to secure bail.However, the state government, in its counter-affidavit, asked the court to strike out the action on the grounds that it disclosed no reasonable cause of action and frivolous.The government said there were enough evidences against the applicants while their trial lasted, adding that the case was frustruated due to the relocation of majority of their witnesses, a reason the case had to suffer several adjournments.
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