Illegal Watchlist: Appeal Court Orders NCS To Pay A’Ibom Account Officer N1m

The Court of Appeal, Lagos division has ordered the Nigeria
Customs Service, NCS, to pay an account officer in the Akwa Ibom
State Accountant-General’s office, Mrs Margaret Ukpe the sum of
N1million for unlawfully putting her name on a wanted persons’
list.

The NCS in a circular dated September 18, 2018, had placed Mrs
Ukpe and four other persons on a watchlist in connection with a
case of alleged conspiracy, money laundering and misappropriation
of public fund.

The NCS had also instructed all its Area Controllers to arrest
them wherever they were sighted.

Vexed by the action of NCS, Mrs Ukpe through her lawyer, Dr
Charles Mekwunye, approached a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking
amongst other reliefs, a declaration that the NCS circular which
was widely publicised constituted a gross violation of her
fundamental rights guaranted under the 1999 Constitution and the
African Charter on Human and Peoples Right and therefore illegal
and unconstitutional.

In a judgment delivered on July 28, 2019 by Justice Mohammed
Hassan, the lower court granted eight out of the 10 reliefs sought
by the plaintiff including an order restraining NCS from arresting
her.

The lower court, however, declined to award any form of damages
against NCS or accede to her demand for public apology.

Dissatisfied, Ukpe filed an appeal in 2019 against the Federal
High Court judgment insisting that the lower court was wrong by not
granting her monetary damages having held that her fundamental
human right was breached.

In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Abdullahi Bayero on July
14, 2021, the Appeal Court restated that the order for Mrs Ukpe’s
arrest and detention by the NCS in 2018 amounted to a g ross
infringement of her fundamental human right.

Justice Bayero also faulted the decision of the Federal High
Court declining to grant the appellant monetary damages.

The appellate court held that damages in compensation legally
and naturally follow every act of violation of a citizen’s
fundamental rights.

The court held: “The law is trite and the case law on the issue
is replete, that once the court has found that the fundamental
rights of an applicant has been violated by the act/acts or conduct
of the respondent, the applicant is entitled to compensation.

“From the available evidence as shown in the record of appeal
and the findings of the lower court, the appellant’s right has been
breached by the respondent.

“The lower court has the sacred duty to prevent the violation of
citizen’s rights. This appeal is therefore meritorious and is
hereby allowed.”

He ordered NCS to pay Ukpe N1million as compensation for the
unlawful and unconstitutional order for her arrest and detention
and to also publish a full apology to her on the front page of two
widely read national newspapers.

Earlier while dismissing the preliminary objection raised by
NCS, challenging the jurisdiction of the court , Justice Bayero
held that the matter was properly brought before the appellate
court and that NCS can be sued contrary to the argument of NCS
counsel.

Two other judges on the panel, Justice Obande Ogbuinya and
Justice Frederick Oho also consented with the led judgment.

The Court of Appeal, Lagos division has ordered the Nigeria
Customs Service, NCS, to pay an account officer in the Akwa Ibom
State Accountant-General’s office, Mrs Margaret Ukpe the sum of
N1million for unlawfully putting her name on a wanted persons’
list.

The NCS in a circular dated September 18, 2018, had placed Mrs
Ukpe and four other persons on a watchlist in connection with a
case of alleged conspiracy, money laundering and misappropriation
of public fund.

The NCS had also instructed all its Area Controllers to arrest
them wherever they were sighted.

Vexed by the action of NCS, Mrs Ukpe through her lawyer, Dr
Charles Mekwunye, approached a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking
amongst other reliefs, a declaration that the NCS circular which
was widely publicised constituted a gross violation of her
fundamental rights guaranted under the 1999 Constitution and the
African Charter on Human and Peoples Right and therefore illegal
and unconstitutional.

In a judgment delivered on July 28, 2019 by Justice Mohammed
Hassan, the lower court granted eight out of the 10 reliefs sought
by the plaintiff including an order restraining NCS from arresting
her.

The lower court, however, declined to award any form of damages
against NCS or accede to her demand for public apology.

Dissatisfied, Ukpe filed an appeal in 2019 against the Federal
High Court judgment insisting that the lower court was wrong by not
granting her monetary damages having held that her fundamental
human right was breached.

In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Abdullahi Bayero on July
14, 2021, the Appeal Court restated that the order for Mrs Ukpe’s
arrest and detention by the NCS in 2018 amounted to a g ross
infringement of her fundamental human right.

Justice Bayero also faulted the decision of the Federal High
Court declining to grant the appellant monetary damages.

The appellate court held that damages in compensation legally
and naturally follow every act of violation of a citizen’s
fundamental rights.

The court held: “The law is trite and the case law on the issue
is replete, that once the court has found that the fundamental
rights of an applicant has been violated by the act/acts or conduct
of the respondent, the applicant is entitled to compensation.

“From the available evidence as shown in the record of appeal
and the findings of the lower court, the appellant’s right has been
breached by the respondent.

“The lower court has the sacred duty to prevent the violation of
citizen’s rights. This appeal is therefore meritorious and is
hereby allowed.”

He ordered NCS to pay Ukpe N1million as compensation for the
unlawful and unconstitutional order for her arrest and detention
and to also publish a full apology to her on the front page of two
widely read national newspapers.

Earlier while dismissing the preliminary objection raised by
NCS, challenging the jurisdiction of the court , Justice Bayero
held that the matter was properly brought before the appellate
court and that NCS can be sued contrary to the argument of NCS
counsel.

Two other judges on the panel, Justice Obande Ogbuinya and
Justice Frederick Oho also consented with the led judgment.