Operations of Ebube Agu illegal in Ebonyi, court rules

A federal high court in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital, has declared the activities of Ebube Agu, the south-east security network, illegal in the state.

Governors of the south-east states had, in April 2021, announced the establishment of the security outfit as part of efforts to tackle insecurity in the zone.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the court also ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) and police to retrieve all the weapons in the possession of Ebube Agu operatives in Ebonyi state.

Riman Fatun, the presiding judge, said the grounds for disbandment were linked to human rights abuses, extortion, and illegal arrests.

“I hereby declare the Ebube Agu outfit illegal and therefore, it ceases to exist as the Ebonyi state house of assembly has no powers to approve their existence,” the judge held.

The court, in a suit filed by Abia Onyike, also ordered the Ebonyi government to pay the plaintiff the sum of N50 million as damages over his “abduction and torture” by the Ebube Agu security outfit in Abakaliki in November 2022.

In November 2022, Onyike, director of media and publicity of the Ebonyi PDP campaign council, was arrested by Ebube Agu operatives.

Speaking with journalists on the court’s ruling, Michael Odo, counsel to Onyike, said he approached the court to seek for a determination on “whether the Ebonyi state house of assembly has the constitutional powers to enact such security agency”.

“I also approached the court to seek whether the arrest of the plaintiff on 9/11/2022 and detention and torture by operatives of the Ebube Agu security agency and/or Ebonyi state Ebube Agu Corps at the Old Government House, Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, are lawful,” the lawyer added.

“I am happy over the judgment and today, justice has been done to my client.”