Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) have been dragged to court over a plan to arrest sex workers in Nigeria’s capitalOther plaintiffs in the suit are the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja fixed March 12 to challenge the legal rights of the plaintiffs to arrest the sex workers
A Federal High Court in Abuja has said it will give its verdict on the suit filed to stop Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) from arresting sex workers in Abuja on March 12.
Justice James Omotosho of the court fixed the date following the presentation of arguments for and against the case by the defence counsel and the plaintiffs.
Court has fixed date to hear suit against FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and others on the right to arrest sex workers
Photo Credit: @GovWike
Source: Twitter
Sex workers: Who dragged Wike to court?
The plaintiff, under the umbrella of the Incorporated Trustee of Lawyers Alert Initiative for Protecting the Rights of Children, Women and the Indigent, filed the suit against the minister and the board.
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According to The Guardian, the AEPB, FCT Minister, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as 1st to 4th respondents in the suit.
The originating summons was brought according to Order 3, Rules 6 and 9 of the FHC (Civil Procedure Rules, 2019; Sections 6(6)(b), 41(1), and 42 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
The suit was filed and dated May 14, 2024, by a group of lawyers led by Rommy Mom, Bamidele Jacobs and Victor Eboh. In the suit, the lawyers sought two questions.
Lawyers file suit against Wike
The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether the AEPB under Section 6 of the AEPB Act, 1997, has the right to extend harassment, arrest, detention, and prosecution of women suspected to be Olosho in Abuja.
The suit reads in part:
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“Whether by the provision of Section 35 (1) (d) of the AEPB Act, 1997, women can be regarded as articles or their bodies regarded as goods for purchase.”
The lawyers then sought for declaration that the charge made by the AEPB personnel before the FCT Mobile Court, which referred to the women arrested on the suspicion of engaging in sex work as ‘articles’ and considered their bodies as ‘goods for purchase,’ is discriminatory and violated the provisions of Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution.
The lawyers asked the court to declare that the board’s duties do not extend to the arrest, harassment and raid of women allegedly engaging in sex work in the Nigeria capital.
Wike said Fubara disregard Tinubu
Henzodaily.ng earlier reported that the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has claimed that Governor Sim Fubara disregarded a peace deal made by President Bola Tinubu.
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Wike claimed during a media chat at his residence in Abuja and dismissed any possible deal with the Rivers governor.
Wike, a former governor of Rivers state, and Fubara have been at loggerheads over the control of the state’s political structure.
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Source: Henzodaily.ng