Plaintiff’s cause of action, the action filed by the 2 nd Plaintiff based on it cannot
survive as it is statute barred. The result of an action being statute barred is to
leave the offending Party without a right of action despite the existence of a cause
of action and thus no remedy.
iii. Whether the totality of evidence adduced in this case is sufficient to establish
the Plaintiffs’ allegation of arrest, detention and infliction of physical violence by
the officers of AEPB and the Police.
The plaintiffs filed this application against the Defendant for the violation of their
rights, wherein they alleged that they were abducted and assaulted sexually,
physically and verbally, threatened and unlawfully detained by state agents in
Abuja working for the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEBP), the
Nigerian Police and the Nigerian Military at different times. They further contend
that these officials did not introduce themselves to them neither did they inform
them of the reason for the arrest or charge them to any court in Nigeria.
The Defendant in response denies the allegation and states that the Plaintiffs’
belong to the cadre of prostitutes popularly called “Big Aunty” who gather and
coordinate other young girls involved in the business of commercial sex work and
with their weight of connection always cajole other young girls in need of help
into prostitution for their own benefit.
It is a general principle of law that he who asserts must prove.
The rule that proof rests on he who asserts the affirmative and not on he who
denies is an ancient rule founded on the consideration of common sense and
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