Orders antigraft agency to tender public apology, delist her name, photograph from wanted persons list. By Alex Enumah in Abuja. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC has come under the sledgehammer of a Federal High Court in Lagos, for its unlawful declaration of Mrs Margaret Emefiele as a wanted person. The court which nullified the conduct of the antigraft agency subsequently ordered the Commission as well as its chairman to pay the sum of N3 million as damages to the complainant. The court predicated its decision on the grounds that the commission cannot on its own without the order of a court of competent jurisdiction declare any person wanted. Mrs Emefiele had on February 14, 2024, instituted a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the EFCC and its chairman, for publishing her name and photograph in their website as a wanted person . She claimed that the action of the defendants resulted in various negative comments of threats on the applicant, and a likely breach of her rights to life as guaranteed by laws. A declaration that the publication of the applicant s name and photograph on the website of the Second Respondent as having been declared WANTED without any court order to that effect , is unlawful. Illegal, and liable to be set aside. An order setting aside the publication of the applicant s name and photograph on the website of the second respondent as one of the persons wanted by the respondents. An order directing the respondent to immediately withdraw the publication of the applicant s name and photograph from the list of persons wanted by the respondents on its website. An order , directing the respondents to issue a public apology to the applicant vide two national Television Stations and 3 national dailies to wit THISDAY Newspaper, The Punch Newspaper and the Nation Newspaper. Damages against the respondents, jointly and severally, in the sum of N250 million in favour of the applicant for the violation of the applicant s fundamental rights . Details later . Founded on January 22, 1995, THISDAY is published by THISDAY NEWSPAPERS LTD., 35 Creek Road Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria with offices in 36 states of Nigeria , the Federal Capital Territory and around the world. It is Nigeria s most authoritative news media available on all platforms for the political, business, professional and diplomatic elite and broader middle classes while serving as the meeting point of new ideas, culture and technology for the aspirationals and millennials. The newspaper is a public trust dedicated to the pursuit of truth and reason covering a range of issues from breaking news to politics, business, the markets, the arts, sports and community to the crossroads of people and society. You can email us at: hellothisdaylive.com or visit ourcontact uspage. .
The Federal High Court in Lagos has nullified the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's (EFCC) unlawful declaration of Mrs. Margaret Emefiele as a wanted person, ordering the EFCC to pay N3 million in damages and delist her from the wanted persons list. Mrs. Emefiele sued the EFCC for violation of her rights after being falsely declared wanted on the EFCC's website, resulting in threats and a potential breach of her right to life.