Insp. Gabriel Of The C.o.p Monitoring Unit, Lagos V. Ukpabio & Ors (2022)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

OLUKAYODE ARIWOOLA, J.S.C. 

This appeal is against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Calabar division, Coram: Omage, JCA, Ngwuta, JCA (as he then was) and Owoade, JCA, delivered on Wednesday the 18th day of April, 2007.

The 1st respondent herein had commenced an action in the Federal High Court, Calabar for the enforcement of her fundamental human rights.

In her application exparte for leave, the 1st respondent, herein after referred to as “the applicant” had sought leave of the Court to enforce her fundamental human rights to dignity of human person, personal liberty and right to private and family life. She also sought leave for an order of Court when granted to operate as a stay of all actions or matter relating to or connected with the complaint, until the determination of the Motion on Notice. The trial Court granted the reliefs sought with the return date as 12/02/2003.

The facts relied on by the applicant are as follows – The applicant, Evangelist (Mrs.) Helen Ukpabio sought the order of the trial Court to enforce her fundamental human rights against the Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Inspector Gabriel, Monitoring Unit, Lagos State and Nigerian Film and Censors Board. The applicant is a preacher and the Executive Producer of Liberty Films, an arm of the Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries. She claimed to have produced thirteen religious films and is the producer of RAPTURE FILMS – Parts 1 & 2 which is the subject of this action.

Sometime in 2001, the 4th respondent received Rapture Films 1 & 2 from the applicant for censorship as required by law. The 4th respondent directed the applicant to make certain amendments in the said two films. The applicant claimed that she carried out the amendment but the 4th respondent was not satisfied. Through Mrs. Roseline Odey of the 4th respondent, the applicant was ordered not to release the films. The applicant agreed that she went ahead to release and circulated the films within the church. She stated that she subsequently realized that it was not necessary, in the first place, to go to the 4th respondent on the censorship of her films, as the 4th respondent had no authority to censor films for religious evangelization.

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The applicant claimed to have heard in the Air that her films had been banned and Mrs. Roseline Odey appeared on the African Independent Television (AIT) to say that the film was illegal. Thereafter, acting for the 4th respondent, Mrs. Odey used the Police to harass and intimidate the applicant.

That, on 20th December, 2002, the police bulldozed into the applicant’s shop at No.10 Nnobi Street, Surulere, Lagos and took away several cartons of her Rapture Films, three thousand copies of empty cartons and arrested the sales girl.

On 7th January, 2003, the Police again went to the applicant’s house to harass and intimidate her. Despite the harassment, the police did not charge the applicant to any Court.

Subsequently, in the substantive Motion on Notice, filed on 10/2/2003, the applicant sought the following reliefs:

1. A declaration that the invasion of the applicant’s shops at Lagos and Calabar by the respondents in the packing of her films therefrom, the continued harassment of the applicant by the respondents and or their agents, is unconstitutional and a violation of her fundamental rights to dignity of human person, personal liberty, private and family life guaranteed under Sections 34, 35, and 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
2. An order of injunction restraining the respondents whether by themselves, their agents, servants, privy or persons however called from interfering in any manner whatsoever with the applicant’s enjoyment of her fundamental rights to dignity of human person, personal liberty, private and family life as guaranteed under Section(s) 34, 35, and 37 of 1999 Constitution.
3. An order directing the respondents to jointly and severally pay N5,000,000.00 damages to the applicant for wrongful violation of her fundamental right to dignity of human person, personal liberty, private and family life as guaranteed under the Constitution aforesaid.
4. N3,000,000.00 (Three million Naira) special damages jointly and severally from the respondents for four thousand video compact disc plates of rapture film, three thousand empty VHS Video Cassettes and five hundred (500) recorded VHS Video cassettes of rapture Film carried away illegally by the respondents from the applicant’s shop in Lagos.

In response to the applicant’s Motion on Notice, the 4th respondent filed a counter-affidavit to oppose, deposed to by Mrs. M. A. Maiyaki, who was a legal officer in the Legal Unit of the National Film Censors Board. She deposed as follows:-

That the National Film Censors Board was a creation of law and that its functions include, the censor and approval of films and videos reserved in Nigeria. That the films sent for screening by the applicant – Evangelist (Mrs.) Helen Ukpabio to the 4th respondent’s offices at Onitsha and Abuja in the year 2002 were duly censored and the applicant was told to make corrections in the film. The applicant did not carry out the whole corrections she was asked to make but proceeded to show the films. The release of the film to the Church members amounted to releasing the film to the general public. The 4th respondent averred that when a religious film fails to meet the laid down requirements such films stand banned being illegal.

A counter-affidavit was filed to the application by the 3rd respondent – Inspector Gabriel Evhabor – the appellant herein. He denied the averments of the applicant that the police forced themselves into the premises of the applicant in Lagos and Calabar. That upon the complaints made by the 4th respondent, after obtaining a search warrant he visited the shop of the applicant and removed cartons of empty video cassettes. The sales girl was invited to the police station. Since the matter went to Court, there had been no contact with the applicant.