Justice Yellim Bogoro of an Ikoyi Federal High Court has ordered the Nigerian Navy to immediately release the detained vessel, MT Dejikun, to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited, nearly two years after an earlier court directive on the matter.
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The judge arrived at the decision while delivering judgment on a motion seeking the vessel’s release, following the striking out of the charge marked FHC/L/65c/17.
The court had previously, on July 3, 2023, struck out an earlier charge against the vessel for lack of diligent prosecution and directed that the vessel be released.
However, the Nigerian Navy did not comply with the order, prompting further legal action.
According to the document before the court, the vessel was sold to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited by the Admiralty Marshal of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, pursuant to the court’s July 3, 2023, order.
Following the striking out of the charge, KG’s Marine Limited, the vessel’s former owner, through its counsel, Jerry Omoregie, filed a motion seeking a mandatory injunction compelling the Navy to release the vessel.
The application was brought under Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Order 28 Rules 1 and 2 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2009, and the court’s inherent jurisdiction.
In its motion, the applicant sought an order directing the Chief of Naval Staff and the Flag Officer, Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos, to release MT Dejikun, which remained in the Navy’s custody despite the subsisting court order.
The grounds for the application included that the Admiralty Marshal lawfully sold the vessel to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited pursuant to the court’s order.
There was no appeal against the July 3, 2023, order. The criminal charge against the vessel had been struck out on January 8, 2024, after repeated failure by the prosecution to appear in court, and no court of competent jurisdiction had set aside the subsisting orders.
The motion was supported by a 25-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Felix Emori Egbe, Operations Manager of KG’s Marine Limited.
In response, the Nigerian Navy and other respondents filed a preliminary objection, urging the court to dismiss the application because a pending charge was yet to be determined.
However, in his ruling, Justice Bogoro dismissed the Navy’s preliminary objection and also struck out the amended charge filed against the vessel, holding that the earlier court order remained valid and binding, as no appeal had been filed against it.
The judge consequently granted the mandatory injunction and ordered the immediate release of MT Dejikun to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited.
Specifically, the court directed the Chief of Naval Staff and the Flag Officer, Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos, to release the vessel forthwith in compliance with the July 3, 2023, order.
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