A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN Femi Falana has criticized the practice of issuing court orders against unknown persons in the eve of a protest, questioning how such orders could be effectively served.
He stated that despite these issues, there was a substantial compliance with the court order in Abuja and Lagos, with protesters traveling from distances of 30 to 40 kilometers to participate in the protest in Ojota in Lagos.
He advised against hasty legal actions on the eve of protests, stressing that even if a court issues an order, it is unlikely to be practically enforced. He recalled a 2006 incident when the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) planned a strike, and an order from Lagos High Court was issued at night.
He stated that the then-President of the NLC, Adams Oshiomhole labeled the Court order “a black market injunction,” because it was never properly served on anyone.
He said in an interview with Channels TV, ”I think the government should have learned not to rush to court on the eve of a strike action by workers or on the eve of a protest by young people. I think it was in 2006, the NLC was going to go on strike.
And in the dead of the night, an order was issued by Lagos High Court which the then President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Adams Oshiomhole referred to as a black market injunction. Because the difficulty with such order is that they were never served on anybody, the order in Abuja was not served on anybody.
I think one of the defendants is said to be an unknown person, how do you serve a court order on unknown person. But to be honest with you, there was a substantial compliance to the court order in Abuja and Lagos by the protesters.
From my information, people came as far as from about 40 to 30km away to participate in the protest in Ojota. But don’t rush to Court on the eve of a protest. Because even if the Court makes the order, it’s not going to be served on the people practically….Viêw_More
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