A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has giving a judgement nullifying the usual restrictions on movement imposed on residents of Lagos State during the monthly Environmental Sanitation exercise in the state.
The court ruled in favour of human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, who had sought the court’s explanation on the legality of such restrictions during the exercise.
Adegboruwa, who led Gbenga Awoseye to argue the case himself, had filed the suit against the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Government challenging the restriction of movements of people on the last Saturday of every month, for the purpose of observing environmental sanitation.
Presided over by Justice Mohammed Idris, the court did not only rule that it was illegal, it also stopped the restriction on movement which takes place every last Saturday between the hours of 7am and 10am.
According to the court, there is no law in the state backing such restrictions during the exercise adding that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria grants freedom of movement to every citizen and stipulates instances where such restrictions can be placed.
In this case, the court ruled that the state cannot trample on the right of the people of the state during these periods.
In the case, the Lagos State Government was represented by the chief state counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Jonathan Ogunsanya.
In his argument, Adegboruwa argued that section 39 of the Environmental Sanitation Law 2000 of Lagos State, which the respondents claimed to empower the Commissioner for the Environment to make regulations, cannot be the basis for restricting human movement on Saturdays while challenging the Lagos State Government to produce such regulation before the court.
In his argument, Ogunsaya sited section 41 of the 1999 Constitution as permitting government to make laws that could hinder the right to freedom of movement and that the Environmental Sanitation Law of Lagos State, 2000, is an example of such.
