Delivers the following Judgment:
ON PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
PROCEDURE
1. By Application dated 10 June 2011 and received at the Registry on 13 June
2011, Mr. Aliyu Tasheku, through his Counsel, Chino Edmund Obiagwu,
lawyer registered with the Nigerian Bar, brought a complaint against the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, for violation of Articles 4, 5, 6 and 12 of the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
2. He asked the Court for:
(i)
A declaration that his arrest and detention since 20 September 2010,
without regard for the order of release made by the Presiding Judge of
the Abuja Magistrate Court, is arbitrary, illegal and illicit; and that
they constitute a violation of his right to personal liberty and freedom
of movement as guaranteed by Articles 6 and 12 of the Charter;
(ii)
A declaration that the denial of medical care during his detention and
the bad conditions in which he was detained constitute a threat to his
fundamental right to health and a violation of his right to human
dignity as guaranteed by Articles 4 and 5 of the said Charter;
(iii)
An order that the Federal Republic of Nigeria must release him
forthwith;
(iv)
An order that the Federal Republic of Nigeria must pay to him the
sum of Ten Million Naira (N 10,000,000) as damages, for the
violations suffered.
3. The Federal Republic of Nigeria, through its Counsel, F. F. Bebu Esq.,
lawyer registered with the Nigerian Bar, lodged at the Registry of the Court,
on 23 January 2012, its Defence, whereby it contended that the Plaintiff’s
Application was inadmissible on the grounds that it was ill-founded and
inconsistent with the requirements of res judicata. Further on, on 22
February 2012, he raised, on preliminary grounds and in a separate pleading,
the lack of jurisdiction of the Court to adjudicate on the case brought before
it, by virtue of the force of res judicata.
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