The applicants claimed that their arrest, detention and planned deportation was unconstitutional, null and void. They stated that most of them had already stayed in Nigeria for a long time, and had valid residence permits. They also complained about poor detention conditions. The respondents denied any knowledge of the arrest and detention of applicants, and denied that any one of them was officially recorded as having a permit to stay in Nigeria legally.
The court held that the applicants there are permits for some of the applicants and that the rest, without permit, have satisfied all immigration formalities before entering into Nigeria. They are therefore refugees and, under the Nigerian Constitution, the applicants could not be arrested without being given any reason or without being charged for an offence in court.
Arrest and detention; arrest without reasons or charges; deportation; personal freedom
Applicants, refugees from Chad, were arrested from their houses and detained by police officers and soldiers. They were never given reasons for their arrest/detention, neither were they charged for an offence. The deportation of applicants to Chad was planned.
The application is upheld and the immediate release of applicants was ordered.
The court relied on Section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution, which protects the personal liberty of every person, not only Nigerians. It states that every person shall be entitled to personal liberty and on person shall be deprived of such liberty save in accordance with a procedure permitted by law, except in the following cases:
(a) by execution of sentence or order of a court, or
(b) by reason of failure to comply by an order of court.
The applicants did not fall under these exceptions, and their arrest and detention were both illegal, null and void.