The Federal High Court sitting in Calabar has ordered the Nigerian Police to immediately stop laying siege on offices of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Abuja and the eastern zone.
Delivering judgment, weekend, in Suit No: FH/CA/CS/69/2021 between Sanusi Abdul Fari and 9 others against Nigerian Police and 20 others, the presiding judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, said the Nigerian Police lack the powers to forcefully occupy IPMAN offices on the grounds that they were interpreting court judgment.
Justice Ojukwu further stated that the Police occupation of IPMAN offices was not in tandem with the Supreme Court judgment in Suit No: SC/15/2018 which had already been interpreted in Suit No: FHC/CA/CS/3?2019.
“Their occupation of national headquarters or unit offices of IPMAN was not occasioned by the decision of the Supreme Court as that issue was not determined or pronounced upon by the apex court.
“It does not lie with the Police to arbitrarily enforce court order without an order of the court giving them such impetus as section 15 of the Sheriffs and Civil Processes Act does not donate such powers,” he said.
