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You’re vagabonds, have no right to protect, court tells Abuja prostitutes
Justice James Omotosho, of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, declined to legalise prostitution in the country, dismissing a suit that sought to enforce fundamental rights of commercial sex workers in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
Omotosho, while describing prostitution as an immoral act alien to the cultural values of all the ethnic groups in the country, said he found no reason to stop the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike and security agencies, from arresting those engaging in such illicit business.
Stressing that prostitutes had no legal rights to enjoy under any known law or the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, he dismissed the argument of the lawyers to the petitioners that they had the right to carry out their lawful trade.
In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/642/2024, the sex workers had sought to bar the FCT Minister and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), from harassing, intimidating, arresting and prosecuting them.
The suit filed by Lawyers Alert Initiative for Protection of Rights of Children, Women and Indigent, an Abuja-based None Governmental Organisation, outside Wike and the AEPB, joined the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
Rommy Mom, leading their team of lawyers had prayed the court to enforce their right to prostitution, in line with all the fundamental human rights that were inured to them from the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Specifically, he urged the court to determine whether the duties of the AEPB under Section 6 of the AEPB Act, 1997, extend to the harassment, arrest, detention and prosecution of women suspected of engaging in sex work on the streets of Abuja and also, under the provision of Section 35 (1) (d) of the AEPB Act, 1997, women could be regarded as articles or their bodies regarded as goods for purchase.
Upon the determination of the questions, the prostitutes also sought a declaration that a charge the AEPB entered before the FCT Mobile Court, which referred to arrested women suspected of engaging in sex work as “articles” and considered their bodies as “goods for purchase,” was discriminatory and a violation of Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution.
They sought a declaration that the duties of the board do not extend to the harassment, arrest and raid of women suspected of engaging in sex work on the streets of Abuja and a declaration that neither Section 6 of the AEPB Act, 1997, nor any extant laws of the country authorise the board to arrest women suspected of engaging in sex work on the streets of Abuja.
The women, while praying the court to restrain the AEPB, its agents or privies from harassing, arresting and raiding women suspected of engaging in sex work on the streets of Abuja, urged it to make an order directing all the respondents to ensure the proper application of the provisions of the Abuja Environmental Protect Act, 1997, by the first respondent, AEPB.
However, in his judgement on Wednesday, Omotosho in dismissing the suit, held that under the criminal law also known as the Penal Code, commercial sex workers were liable to be arrested and prosecuted for a jail term of two years, adding that their application was incompetent as it did not comply with the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009.
He also held that the reliefs were not grantable, adding: “This court wonders what kind of message the applicant was sending when it decided to bring an action to protect prostitutes.
“A reasonable person would have expected that the applicant would instead occupy itself with developing the girl child and protecting the sanctity of womanhood instead of promoting immorality and the spread of sexual diseases.
“It is indeed shameful that the applicant should file an action like this. The women suspected of engaging in sex work on the streets of Abuja or prostitutes or vagabonds are by their actions committing an offence and thus their fundamental rights can be legally breached by the its respondent.
“Holding a different opinion would mean that a person arrested in the process of robbing others can claim to be entitled to his fundamental rights to personal liberty and freedom. This would cause anarchy and chaos In the society. Assuming that prostitution is not an offense in the FCT, the rights of these prostitutes can legally be violated under Section 45 of the constitution, which allows the breach of a person’s right on the grounds of defence, public safety, public health, public order and public morality.
“It is a known fact that prostitutes are some of the clearest examples of indecency in society, and they are champions of immorality through their immoral dressing, exposing sensitive parts of their bodies, their use of vulgar language as well as the chief culprits in spreading sexual diseases.
“Allowing prostitutes to have free reign on the streets of Abuja will, in no time, destroy the moral fiber of the city and turn it into a hotbed of immorality.
“This court will not allow such to happen. This court is not unaware that prostitution had been legalised in some Western nations, including in the Netherlands, where prostitutes are now entitled to pensions and other benefits.
“This is not so in Africa. The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, one of the Statutes enforced by the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, is clear on what fundamental rights are in Africa. The preamble to the charter, Africans’ culture must reflect their idea of what constitutes human rights.
“This philosophy is what is known as cultural relativism in the framework of human rights. The counterpoint to this is universality, which posits that human rights should be the same in all places and should apply to persons irrespective of their culture, religion, race, gender or other differences.
“The idea behind universalism is to ensure uniformity in human rights development. Universality of human rights directly led to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first global human rights document. While it is theoretically sound, universalism, if applied, would offend the unique cultures of some people.
“For instance, the right to same-sex marriage, which is acceptable in Western nations like the United Kingdom, will be deeply unacceptable to conservative and religious nations like Arab nations.
“Thus, cultural relativism means that these nations can choose which of these rights to adopt or not. This explains why some conservative nations exercise their right to reservation regarding several sections of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which are in conflict with their cultural beliefs.
“I daresay that prostitution is alien and has never been part of our culture. Prostitution or ‘Olosho’ and ‘Ashewo’ as the Yorubas call it, ‘Akwuna-Akwuna’ as the Igbos call it, ‘Karuwa’ as the Hausas call it or ‘Hookup’ as the young people say it, is alien to our culture.
“It has been frowned upon as a deeply immoral act worthy of shame. The fact that civilisation and westernisation has taken some root in Nigeria still does not make it right. Even in some Western countries, prostitution is still seen as an immoral act.
“In the United States of America for instance, apart from a few counties in the state of Nevada, prostitution or sex work is illegal in the other 50 states of the US. There is absolutely no justification for prostitution in Nigeria in the context of our cultural norms and tradition, and in fact, prostitution is an anathema in Africa.
“Prostitutes are vagabonds and the AEPB is well within its right to arrest and prosecute them as they constitute a nuisance in the FCT and are clearly committing an offense by parading themselves as “women of easy virtue.
“I, therefore, hold that this application filed by the applicant has no basis and the rights claimed are unenforceable in light of the provisions of Section 45 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Preamble to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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