An Imo State High Court, sitting in Owerri, the state capital, has issued an interim order restraining the suspended 27 local government areas chairmen and councillors from further invading the councils and from perpetrating any other extrajudicial action connected to it.
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This came as the suspended Chairmen and councillors were prevented from forcefully taking over power from the interim management committees of the 27 council areas of the state.
The order followed an application for an interim order filed by the Attorney General of Imo state, Ndukwe Nnawuchi (SAN), at the High Court in Imo state.
Making his application, Nnawuchi regretted that the former chairmen and councillors had filed numerous suits in various courts challenging their suspension, but did not have patience to also wait for the outcome of their suits and decided instead to take over government at the local government level using brute force.
“These defendants are parties to this case and by that they have submitted to the jurisdiction of this court. Even though the process of arriving at justice may be slow and sluggish, the parties must wait and let the court take its decision.
“A situation where while this case is pending in court, the defendants decided to take up weapons and overrun the 27 council areas in Imo state is an affront on the legal authority of the court; and would portray the court as a toothless bulldog if such recklessness was condoned.
“It is also criminal, treasonable felony to take over government by force without the backing or force of law”, Nnawuchi said.
The Attorney General noted that it was a clear recipe for anarchy if the action of the suspended council officials was allowed, as Imo would become a state where only the strong and mighty survived without any recourse to law and order.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Eze Ohiri Njemanze noted that all the parties in the suit were duly served and aware of the pendency of the substantive suit, HOW/613/2019.
He regretted that the defendants (the former chairmen and councillors) ignored the pendency of the suit and tried to force their way into the Local Government Councils across the state.
Njemanze stated that none of the parties in the suit had the right to truncate the process or render the suit nugatory by adopting self-help measures instead of waiting for the determination of the substantive case.
He however granted the application for an interim order, in the interest of peace and order, pending the determination of the interlocutory injunction on the 28th of January 2020.
Justice Njemanze also ordered that the status quo, from 17thJune, 2019 or from the day of the dissolution of the former Chairmen and councillors, be maintained.
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