Court orders Navy to release detained vessel
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian Navy to immediately release from its custody a detained vessel, MT Dejikun, to a firm, Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited.
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian Navy to immediately release from its custody a detained vessel, MT Dejikun, to a firm, Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited.
Justice Yellim Bogoro made the order while granting a motion filed for the release of the vessel, following the striking out of the charge marked FHC/L/65c/17, in a judgment delivered on Monday.
The judge had, on July 3, 2023, ordered the release of the vessel to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited when he struck out the previous charge for lack of diligent prosecution.
Following the striking out of the charge, the owner of the vessel, KG’s Marine Limited, through its lawyer, Jerry Omoregie, approached the court with a motion for the release of the vessel.
It prayed the court for “an order of mandatory injunction directing the Nigerian Navy, to wit, the Chief of Naval Staff and the Flag Officer, Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos, to release forthwith the MT Dejikun under the custody of the Nigerian Navy and sold to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited by the Admiralty Marshal of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos State, as per the order of the court made on July 3, 2023.”
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The firm listed several grounds for the court to positively consider its request.
The grounds were that “the Admiralty Marshal of the Federal High Court, in the discharge of its duties, sold the MT Dejikun under the custody of the Flag Officer, Western Naval Command, Nigerian Navy, to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited as per the order of the court dated July 3, 2023.”
“The Nigerian Navy and the Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice, despite knowledge of the order of the court dated July 3, 2023, refused and neglected to release the MT Dejikun sold to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited, despite repeated requests by the Office of the Admiralty Marshal of the Federal High Court.
“There is no appeal against the order of the court dated July 3, 2023, and the order has not been set aside by any court of competent jurisdiction.
“The criminal charge against the MT Dejikun was struck out due to the failure of the prosecution to diligently prosecute the matter, having refused and failed to appear in court several times, suggesting that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice was no longer interested in prosecuting the charge. The MT Dejikun was discharged by the order of the court dated January 8, 2024, and there is no appeal challenging that order.
“The Nigerian Navy has no discretion in the matter and is obligated, under the force of law and pursuant to the order of the court dated July 3, 2023, to release the MT Dejikun under its custody.”
There was a motion before the court supported by a 25-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Felix Emori Egbe, the Operations Manager of KG’s Marine Limited, the former owners of the vessel, MT Dejikun.
The Navy and other respondents filed a preliminary objection to the motion, urging the court to dismiss it on the ground that there was a pending charge yet to be determined.
Delivering judgment on the motion on Monday, Justice Bogoro dismissed the preliminary objections filed by the Nigerian Navy.
The judge also dismissed the amended charge filed against the vessel, holding that his earlier order was still subsisting, as there was no appeal against it nor had it been set aside.
Justice Bogoro consequently ordered the Nigerian Navy to immediately release the vessel, MT Dejikun, to the buyer, Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited.
In ordering the immediate release of the vessel, the judge stated: “That an order of mandatory injunction is hereby granted directing the Nigerian Navy, to wit, the Chief of Naval Staff and the Flag Officer, Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos, to release forthwith the MT Dejikun under the custody of the Nigerian Navy, sold to Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited by the Admiralty Marshal of the Federal High Court, as per the order of the Federal High Court made on July 3, 2023.”
Managing Partner of Sea Delights Marine Wreckage Limited, Yemi Bukoye, an engineer, expressed delight over the ruling, saying that “justice delayed is not justice denied.”
Bukoye said that although the matter had not been easy for the company for almost two years since the court first ordered the release of the vessel, he commended the judge for rekindling the hope of Nigerians in the country’s judicial system.
