The Police Special Fraud Unit has asked the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos to dismiss a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Professor Abayomi Fasina, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, and two others.
Fasina, along with Mrs Bridget Oyaola and Mr Sulaiman Usman, the university’s Acting Director of Works and Chief Internal Auditor respectively, who were represented by Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), dragged the Commissioner of Police, Anderson Bankole, and a Superintendent of Police, Akeregun, into a fundamental rights enforcement suit marked FHC/L/CS/684/2021, asking the court for many reliefs.
Among the reliefs sought are a declaration that they are entitled to know and be informed of the details of any investigation against them by the police; and a declaration that the physical invasion of the university’s premises by the respondents in an attempt to arrest and detain the vice-chancellor in an unlawful manner constitutes a flagrant violation of their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
The vice-chancellor also asked the court to award the cost of N50m, being the general, aggravated and exemplary damages against the respondents, jointly or severally for the violation of their fundamental rights.
However, the police in a counter-affidavit deposed to by Supol Akeregun, and filed by Chukwu Agwu, asked the court to dismiss the applicants’ suit for being frivolous and amounting to an abuse of court process.
The deponent averred that the police never invaded the premises of the vice-chancellor on June 17 and 18, 2021, or any day at all but only visited the university’s premises to serve the vice-chancellor’s invitation over some criminal allegations which the police were investigating.
According to the deponent, the petition against the applicants is not only in respect of the fraudulent acts allegedly perpetrated as the vice-chancellor from February 2021, but also includes his tenure from 2017, when he was deputy vice-chancellor in charge of administration till February, 2021 when he became the vice-chancellor of the university.
Fasina had been heading more than 11 committees as deputy vice-chancellor from 2017 to February 2021 before he became the vice-chancellor. The committees were said to have dealt with contracts and other financial engagements.
“The vice-chancellor, as the then Chairman of TETFund Committee of the university and about other 10 committees, allegedly fraudulently converted to himself and laundered about N13,864,925 through his son, Fasina Tosin, who is a postgraduate student at Stirling University, Scotland.
“It is untrue that the applicants are being intimidated. The applicants have yet to honour our invitation and the documents in my office relate to criminal infractions allegedly committed by the applicants. Also, the available documents in our records obtained in the course of investigation revealed that the vice-chancellor is involved in the fraudulent conversion of funds from Ekiti State University as salaries while he was still receiving salaries as deputy vice-chancellor (Administration) at Federal University Oye-Ekiti,” the deponent averred.
“It is only a thorough police investigation that will determine whether or not the applicants are culpable. The applicants filed the suit to intimidate and circumvent the police investigation and possibly to escape the long arm of justice.’’
“I ask the court to dismiss the applicants’ suit with huge cost, as it is frivolous,” Akeregun said.
The judge in charge of the matter, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, fixed September 20, 2021 for hearing of all processes in the suit.