Court Extends Order Restricting Hunger Protest To Abuja Stadium

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, extended the order limiting participants in the #EndBadGovernance protest to the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

Ruling on the case, the presiding judge, Justice Oriji extended the order following an application to that effect as argued by Dr Ogwu James Onoja, SAN, on behalf of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

During the proceedings, all 11 defendants were absent and unrepresented by legal counsel.

Nationwide Protests And Matters Arising

However, the FCT Minister’s lawyer alerted the judge to a statement by one of the respondents, Damilare Adenola, who had threatened that the nationwide protests might be extended beyond the initial 10 days.

The counsel argued that since the respondents were not in court and no one knew their next plan of action, it would be to extend the order to ensure that the peace of the FCT was not unjustly disrupted.

In a brief ruling, Justice Oriji granted the request and affirmed that the order of July 31, 2024, remains valid and in force.

The judge subsequently fixed August 22, 2024, for hearing of the motion on notice.

On July 31, Justice Oriji granted an ex-parte application filed by Onoja on behalf of the FCT Minister, issuing an interim injunction to prevent the five leaders of the protest groups from assembling or parading on any roads, streets, offices, or public areas within the FCT from August 1 to August 10, or beyond, until the motion on notice could be heard and decided.

He had also applied for another order of interim injunction mandating the security agencies to prevent the protesting leaders from gathering or parading themselves along any road, offices, or public premises within the FCT between August 1 and 10, pending the hearing of his motion on notice.

The minister stated that while the federal government was not opposed to the protest, intelligence, and security reports suggested that certain leaders of the protest planned to exploit the demonstration to create chaos, inflict serious damage on public facilities, obstruct roadways, and disrupt public peace.