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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, while dismissing the suit filed by the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore challenging the 2017 Open Grazing Prohibition and Establishment Law passed by the Benue State House of Assembly, awarded a cost of N100,000 against the plaintiff to be paid to all the defendants before any other step can be taken in the suit.
Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore had approached the court seeking a mandatory injunction against Benue State Government from implementing the laws as passed by Benue State |House of Assembly.
Delivering judgment yesterday, Justice Okon Abang held that the failure of the plaintiff to comply with an earlier order of the court to amend their originating summons was a fault on their part.
The order, according to Abang, was made in December 2017 by a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Bamidele Quadri. He had ordered the plaintiff to amend their originating summons as there was no valid originating summons before the court.
Justice Abang said the judge had given the plaintiff five days to comply with the order of the court but the plaintiff brought the summons before the court on May 31, 2019. With this, Mr Abang held that the plaintiff was nonchalant, developed a carefree attitude and did nothing for upwards of 19 months.
He stressed that the plaintiff treated the court order with disdain and levity. “For 19 months, since December till date, the plaintiff failed to file the amended originating summons following an order of a judge of the Federal High Court to do so within five days.
The plaintiff was in court when this order was made but failed to comply or appeal the order. No valid originating summons was filed by them.
“For them to have not done anything for 19months, they should have themselves to blame. The court order remains valid. If the originating summons is not filed, there would be no way the defendants would file a counter-affidavit.
“The purported originating summons filed on May 31, 2019, is a nullity and should not have been filed.
“In the eyes of the law, there is no valid originating summons filed by the plaintiff. Why did the plaintiff not comply with the court order if they know they have a good case?
“The court should not only bark but should also bite and break bones where necessary, but, not the bones of the parties involved in the matter. The matter is also an abuse of court processes, where the court process is abused, the suit should be dismissed.
“The plaintiff’s suit is hereby dismissed with a cost of N100,000 to be paid to all the 14 defendants before taking any other step,” the judge ruled.
