David Ukpo, the victim of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice’s alleged organ harvesting requested on Tuesday that the Federal High Court in Abuja reverse its July 1 decision to reveal his biodata for use in a London court during Ekweremadu’s trial.
While criticizing the court’s procedures that resulted in the order being issued, Ukpo stated that his fundamental rights to a fair trial and privacy had been gravely violated.
His complaint was that neither he nor the Attorney General of the Federation, the nation’s top legal representative, had been added as parties to the lawsuit.
Ukpo asked Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo to overturn the decision allowing the transfer of his biodata to Ekweremadu and his wife so they may defend themselves in Uxbridge Magistrate Court in London in a motion of notice he filed through his attorney, Bamidele Igbinedion.
The National Identity Management Commission, the Comptroller General, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Stanbic IBTC bank, the United Bank for Africa, and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System are the defendants in the motion.
The applicant is asking the court to enjoin the defendants, their agents, privies, servants, and employees from providing Ekweremadu and his wife with any information pertaining to him for their defense in the London Court.
FLASHBACK
Clariform reported that a Federal High Court, Abuja, in July ordered the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to supply the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) with the certified true copy (CTC) of biodata information of David Ukpo for onward transmission to the UK.
Justice Inyang Ekwo gave the order following an omnibus application made by Muazu Mohammed, counsel for NIMC, to the effect.
Clariform had earlier reported that former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and wife, Beatrice had, in the application dated and filed on June 27 by their lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, sued NIMC and four others.
Others mentioned in the suit are the Comptroller General (C-G), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); Stanbic-IBTC Bank; United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc as 2nd to 5th respondents respectively.
TAKEAWAY
In the case filed by Ekweremadu for the release of the biodata of the the alleged organ harvesting victim, his lawyer said that the law does not allow the commission to release an individual biodata to another individual.
The lawyer stressed that if this was done because the applicants were highly-placed persons, this might be abused in future.
The judge, however, said that the order was not made because the applicants were high-placed.
He said the judgment was made for the whole of the country, saying it could have been an ordinary Nigerian making the application and that the court is there to protect everyone.
“If you need an order of court to carry out the judgment, it is a simple application,” Ekwo added.
Mohammed, therefore, made an omnibus prayer, urging the court to direct the agency to supply the biodata information of Ukpo to the AGF.
Awomolo did not oppose the application.
“We agree that the document be transmitted to the AGF for onward transmission to the UK,” he said.
In his ruling, Justice Ekwo ordered NIMC to supply the information of biodata of David Ukpo’s national identification number which is in its care to the AGF for onward transmission to the UK.
“This is the order of this court,” he said.
The judge also warned the lawyer against making use of social media to discuss court matters.
“When matter is in court, you must be careful how you deploy social media about court matters,” he warned.
