Legal Action: Court Decision on Service to IGP and AGF in Rivers LGA Dispute

Substituted service of court documents to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, has been authorized by a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt through an ex parte application.

Furthermore, the State Commissioner of Police can be served through the Officer in Charge (OC) Legal, State CID, Rivers State as per the court’s decision on Friday.

In a lawsuit filed by the Initiative for Transparency, Strategy and Good Leadership, the court issued an ex parte order allowing the Attorney General of Rivers State, the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, and the Head of Service to be served through substituted means by delivering court documents to the Attorney General’s office.

The defendants have been summoned to provide explanations for why the ex parte orders directing the police to vacate the local government council entrances in all 23 LGAs of Rivers State should not be approved.

Prior to this, N.O. Onyilokwu and Clarissa C. Chibuike appeared in court on behalf of 21 former local government chairmen seeking to be parties in the case.

The legal dispute involves the Initiative for Transparency, Strategy and Good Leadership and a Rivers State indigene, JOSHUA RUFUS, who are seeking relief against the IGP, Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, and the Attorney General of the Federation.

Additional defendants include the Attorney General of Rivers State, the Governor of Rivers State, and the Head of Service.

The claimants are pursuing a court order instructing the IGP to direct the Police to vacate the local government council secretariats to enable normal business operations.

Following the approval of the application by the presiding Judge, Justice Muhammed Turaki, the case has been adjourned to September 2, 2024.