The Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed on behalf of Gospel Kinanee, who was allegedly detained for 18 years without trial.
Justice Okogbule Gbasam dismissed the suit instituted by the Haven360 Community Impact Initiative, also known as Haven360 Foundation, on Friday, ruling that the applicant failed to establish his claims of fundamental rights violations.
The judge said there was no evidence showing when, how or by whom Kinanee was arrested, or establishing that he had been detained and subsequently released by the Chief Judge.
Justice Gbasam also pointed to discrepancies between the identity of the person allegedly arrested and that of the person released.
According to the court, the person in custody was identified as Sunday Barine, who was released by the Chief Judge in July.
Reacting to the judgment, the President of Haven360 Foundation, Cyrus Cyrus Onu, said the organisation would obtain a certified true copy of the judgment and review the court’s reasoning before advising the applicant on the next step.
“The court has done its job. We will apply for the CTC of the judgment. We will review it and advise the applicant,” Onu said.
He added that the decision on whether to appeal would be taken after reviewing the judgment.
The Principal State Counsel with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Chimenem Mbadiwe, welcomed the ruling, saying the applicant failed to establish that his fundamental rights had been violated.
“My Lord has done a very good job. The applicant had failed to prove his case that he was abused in any way,” Mbadiwe said.
He added that the discrepancies concerning the identities of the person arrested and the person released had weakened the applicant’s case.
Meanwhile, Paul Kinanee, the brother of Gospel Kinanee, said the family would study the judgment before deciding whether to appeal.
The case centres on claims that Kinanee was held for about 18 years without trial, but the court’s ruling focused on the failure to establish the alleged detention and the identity discrepancies surrounding the case.